Blind Eyes: Opened
by xxTheDemonInsideYouxx
Summary: "You told me you loved me, then escaped my grasp. Now it is my turn to return to you." Sasuke has left her to reach his own goals, but Yasha refuses to let go. SasukexOC Sequal to Blind Eyes.
1. My Child: Kana Uchiha

**It's the beginning of the end, The Finally!**  
**I decided to do the sequel to Blind Eyes…Although; it's not really planned out. The first few chapters will most likely be shorter than usual just because I realized it's hard to start off a story about Sasuke…with no Sasuke. :DWell…Here's my meager attempt at the second story, Enjoy!**

**My Child: Kana Uchiha**

There is always a reason for peoples' actions whether it be known or not. Some people act out of fear, out of distress, or even happiness can urge a being on. Sometimes they can be caught between staying and going because they are struggling on leaving one they love to reach one they loved.

As I wearily held my newborn child in my arms, I could not help but be torn between leaving and staying. True, she had only been born mere minutes ago, but my mind had already begun to form a plan to take action against a certain Uchiha. The Uchiha in which my daughter Kana resembled so much.

She was a neko like myself, but that was about the only thing that was in my likeness. The ears were a midnight black, as was the small tuff of hair that donned her delicate head. What little amount of hair she did possess mostly ran towards the back and stuck up a little bit in the back, but was not the clear style of her fathers.

Her black eyes were closed now for she had stopped screaming a little while ago. As of the moment she rested comfortably, wrapped in a white blanket and being held against my tired body.

Many of the medics had given her a strange look after taking in her appearance. They were wondering how I, with pure white hair and bright blue eyes, could produce an offspring that was such a reminder of the Uchiha clan. This idea was passed around several times that I was in contact with an Uchiha, but it had never been verified as I rejected the idea on multiple occasions.

Unfortunately, it had to be true. Kana was indeed a child of the Uchiha clan…An offspring of the last remaining Uchiha of my age, Sasuke.

Sasuke Uchiha was the only person with whom I ever truly put my trust in. I informed him of the thoughts nobody had ever heard me deliver, I allowed him to see me cry in my times of great weakness, I felt urged into his arms when no one else could even hope to get that close. I would have given Sasuke my entire life, if he had not abandoned me.

I could not blame him for abandoning me…I mean to imply that I understand why he left, and that it was a choice entirely up to him, and I could not put the blame upon his shoulders for leaving our child as well. He had no idea, even at this moment, that he had produced an offspring to continue his clan, even if she was not a purely bred Uchiha. Sasuke could not be held in my trial as guilty for making his own way, but none of this meant that I was not upset.

I could not see how he could lure me into the idea that there was some being out there who actually cared for my meager existence, and then so suddenly escape from my hold to join up with somebody who was out to destroy me. That was something I held him accountable for.

Sasuke was the only person I could ever…love.

With that being said, the average thoughts of a human would be to question my intelligence on what love is. It is true that I feel no emotions…No sensible emotions, now, anyways. Most of the time my mind is elsewhere, and I can only stare at a person when they ask a question, only give them the same blank look as looking at a wall would receive. The only one who can produce an emotion out of me _is _in fact, the Uchiha boy. For some reason his presence is a factor to the smallest smile I can give off, the gentlest laugh that is possible for my being, the most tears I could release from my eyes.

I do not understand love. I do not pretend to comprehend the functions of this strange emotion nor really appreciate the pain or joy it brings. I can only say I love Sasuke because that is what my cold heart is telling me to do. It beats according to him. My heart will only follow Sasuke and trust in him, and even though he left me, if he somehow managed to return, I would continue on trusting him.

Maybe it is because of my lack of emotions that I do not want to hate him…My heart will not allow me to hate him. All I want is for him to come back.

This is the only thing I can tell myself as I struggle through the days of being alone once more, but now having a child to need to care for through the sadness. I want this child, but I want Sasuke more.

I thirsted to hold him, and even though a little child took up that space where he should have been, it still felt empty. It felt empty because it was not him I held so close to my body, it was not his forehead I was kissing unsurely, it was not his hands that were clutching onto my fingers. Though they were black eyes, they were not his black eyes now staring up at me after just waking up. Though it was soft black hair, it was not his black hair that I was patting down with my pale hand. Kana was my painful reminder of Sasuke…and I could tell because I loved her as well.

There were only a few words of Sasuke's that I felt I would ever have to ignore.

_"...Don't try to find me. Madara will catch you straight away and you will have no hope of escaping afterwards..."_

Sasuke clearly told me not to go chasing after him, not to take any rash decisions that could put my life on the line, but this also meant he did not know that by staying away he was killing me anyways. I contemplated his all of his last words to me over and over in my head but I never once felt any comfort in any of them.

He tried.

Oh yes he definitely tried to make it seem like he would be protecting me by going away and leaving me in the care of Konoha, he even sounded as though he wanted me safe by giving me warnings on what to do and what not to do. Sasuke told me that if he was with me or not, I was going to die anyways. Madara would catch up to me sooner or later, and he promised that he would make it later by joining him.

He tried.

Sasuke tried to make his absence be furtive, but I had overheard the discussion between his group and he. Somehow, I still trusted him.

He tried.

I know he attempted to love me. I know he endeavored to comfort me, even far before he left. I know he tried to understand my lifestyle and wanted to know me more. I know he wanted to understand all these things about me…I even knew that he was trying to protect me even if it was at the cost of his own chances at destroying Itachi.

Even through all these things, everything he tried to do to help me, I had to ignore his words and run after him. Kana would most likely not be able to be in my care for the first few months of her life, but I would return to her…I would bring her father with me. Once I had gathered my strength back and was able to fight like usual there was no doubt that I would be going after Sasuke. I had no choice but to trust Konoha with the duty of caring for my child.

"Well….She looks….Not at all like you," Naruto was commenting as he had so kindly paid a visit to me in the hospital after hearing that Kana had finally been born. I had a proposition that Naruto felt as though he should be friendly to me during this time. After all, we were both Jinchuuriki, and even though I refused to exploit any pieces of my stories to him, he appeared to understand. Comprehend what I did not know, but possibly that my life was one that could not be figured out by anyone other than those who were bijuu holders.

"Oh be quiet, Naruto," the pink haired one named Sakura thwacked the boy over the head with her hand before she turned to look at me, smiling pleasantly, "She's beautiful."

I bowed my head towards the pair of shinobi, "Thank you Sakura-San…" Although I understood that Naruto was indeed correct I felt it unnecessary to point that out when it was presently clear.

"You're welcome!"

"Hmph, come on, you know you're saying that because it looks like Sasuke…" Naruto mumbled under his breath, massaging the location on his cranium that had been assaulted by the Haruno girl.

"Naruto!" Sakura's eyebrow twitched in the blonde's direction, causing him to back up with his hands held up in defense. Of course, neither of them knew that Sasuke was the actual father; Naruto and Sakura were both two of many people who suspected this. Naruto most of all because upon our first meeting many months ago, during the time I had been decided to train him, I had mentioned Sasuke in hopes of getting Naruto back on track. It did work, but at the same time I do not believe the kyuubi boy has ever forgotten about it.

"What? It's true!" Naruto defended, now on the opposing end of my hospital bed.

Sakura seemed agitated, "That isn't true! It's a beautiful baby! Just because she has black hair doesn't mean she looks like Sasuke!"

All the while I stroked Kana's silky black hair with gentle apprehensive fingers, somewhat worried that if I were to touch her in the wrong way that there was the possibility she could shatter or disappear in a whirl of smoke. I was so accustomed to things that I felt close to leaving, that it was almost a natural instinct now. To feel as though she could be merely a dream and that the second I hurt her or moved away from her, she would be gone.

Sakura then proceeded to apologizing to me about Naruto's absent-minded comments and how I need not bother myself with him, but I could only stare down at Kana.

"…That is quite alright…." I replied dully after a short while. I supposed there was no way to really tell them that Naruto was correct and so decided against saying much else. I was tired, anyhow, for the process of childbirth had been vigorous and not something I had expected. They hadn't told me that there was the possibility that the Nekomata could be released during this time, which left me to struggle between holding the demon inside its seal as well as giving birth to Kana. Both were beyond painful, but the moment after it stopped I returned to my quiet, cold state. It was easy enough to say that the medics were shocked.

Sakura noticed my weariness, "Naruto I think we should go. Yasha looks tired and I think we're bothering the baby."

I tilted my head at Kana who was simply staring at the pair with large black eyes, a somewhat questioning look in her childish eyes. Her petite black neko ears, hardly the size of a coin, were sticking straight up towards the ceiling, twitching occasionally. She did not appear bothered, but more curious about these two leaf shinobi who were speaking so rapidly towards each other.

"Yes, you should go, visiting hours are over," another mild voice confirmed, one that belonged to a medic sheeted in white, holding a pale blue clipboard in his right hand. Though his brown eyes looked calm, upon a deeper searching I saw they seemed a bit troubled. They kept flickering towards the sheets of paper that were clipped to the wooden slate.

Neither Naruto nor Sakura seemed to notice this.

They bade their goodbyes before they left without another word about it, but the moment the door closed the medic sighed.

"Miss. Satou, we've confirmed that your child is one hundred percent healthy, however there is one thing we should consult you about…"

I kept my gaze locked on the medic to show that I was indeed giving my full attention to him even if I did not respond to question what it was they were checking up with me on.

He appeared to receive the message that I wished for him to speak further, and so, much to my dismay, he did.

"The ANBU black ops, as well as the interrogation unit, have asked us to take a blood test on your child once she was born…We took these tests, and we got the results back-"

I cut off the medic with an icy tone, "You tested my child without my content?"

"It was on orders, miss," The medic bowed his head, but when his eyes met mine for the second time I found that they were even more troubled than they were before. On that cue the door opened once more and stepping through it was the blonde haired woman I recognized as the Hokage, Lady Tsunade. She was followed by a man named Ibiki who was the head of the interrogation unit. They both had stony expressions that were deadly serious.

"What would this be about…?" I questioned slowly, not at all showing my emotions on my face.

When the medic was about to respond, the Hokage cut him off to inform me herself.

"The results we've received show that this baby has both the genes and chakra from you, as well as the rouge shinobi, Sasuke Uchiha."


	2. Nekomata's Awakening

**Yet another short chapter which I suppose I'll have to apologize for… Heh, don't worry, I promise once I get more into the plot line the chapters will be a lot longer! I mean a lot a lot! … I pinkie promise! **

**Nekomata's Awakening**

"The results we've received show that this baby has genes and chakra from you, as well as the rouge shinobi, Sasuke Uchiha."

The chocolate brown eyed woman stared ice-coater daggers through my soul with her arms crossed over her large bust, her appearance acting as though one a jail keeper would give to their prisoner. She seemed highly displeased with the results of the testing they had done upon my child; now knowing that she was an offspring of an Uchiha.

There was no response that I could provide that would act as a defending statement towards the Hokage and at the same time there was no retort I intended to assault against her either. The words I could have strung together would not have been at all respectful, so I decided against saying anything and simply allowed myself to be chewed out by these people.

"We know you are aware that Sasuke is one of the most wanted shinobi striving right now. Not telling anybody you had been in contact with him means that you were definitely helping him, also placing yourself as a wanted kunoichi," Tsunade informed crossly, the only thing being a frown creasing her lips.

The captain of the interrogation squads, Ibiki, stepped forward, his face in the same sullen state as it always was, but this time it had increased in coldness, "Which means we won't have a problem searching through you, no matter how painful it gets."

I tilted my head innocently towards them, not at all showing any form of expression but the slight clutch I had on Kana, "You could have done that at the beginning…It would not have bothered me." Which was true, I would not have cared if they painfully executed me from the start to receive the information they sought out to seek.

"That's not the point," Tsunade barked, "You've been hiding valuable information from us. Now we're proposing that you tell it to us easily, or we can get it through other means."

I sighed gently and stared at them calmly, "…Lady Tsunade… If it is information on Sasuke that you wish to find…All I can tell you is that whatever happened within this village to cause somebody like him to leave is none of my business. I do not care what your village believes Sasuke is like…I have seen him differently. He is not somebody you should prosecute… If you want to take him out, you will not be getting my help."

Ibiki's frown darkened, "Very well. We can do it the hard way then."

His gruff hand fastened around my arm hard enough to bruise it and he pulled me up out of the hospital bed. I flinched instinctively as a harsh pain seared through my stomach, more over within the place where the Nibi was sealed as well as in my legs, which were not strong enough to hold my body up just yet. In my other arm Kana, who had been quiet all that time, started to cry as she had been jolted as well.

The medic had a sorry expression on his face as he eased the baby out of my arm which was soon to drop to my side within seconds of him removing the child. I had not the energy to resist against any of this, nor even walk, which was clear as I instantly dropped to the ground. The process of childbirth as well as keeping Nibi under its seal and in control had completely drained me, and having been forced to stand up, my head instantly began to feel light and everything appeared to spin underneath me.

That did not seem to be a problem for Ibiki as his bruise-worthy grasp never faltered and he yanked me back up on my feet, "Let's go."

I sighed and followed, but not without struggle for my legs were giving out on me. Ibiki continued to drag me along regardless of the majority of my body scraping the ground. He crossed us through hallways and stairs that seemed to tunnel down even underground, while all the while I was flinching from the bitter pain.

The man with the gruesomely scarred face seemed not to worry about my capability to remember the way to wherever this location was to be, for I did not have my vision obstructed by any means. Though I was thankful for that part, I did wish that he would stop pulling me along like a dirty sack.

Eventually I was jolted to a stop within a large stone room that reeked the putrid stench of blood and dead human carcasses. The smell of well-maintained iron also drifted into my highly sensitive neko nose which allowed me a better understanding of the layout of this room without the need to look up from the ground, yet that did not cease my vague curiosity as to what this was. Countless times before I had been called in by the interrogation squad to be figured out but never before had I been brought to a room that smelled so unfamiliar, so morbid. It indeed slightly inclined my interest for the events to come but no more made me excited as I would being cloaked in the bloody odor.

I managed a swift glance at the world above from my locked gaze at the ground, and what came apparent to my blue eyes was… confusing.

It was a regular stone room that was awfully chilling to the bone in temperature. The gray and black alignments of hard rock that scaled up the wall were surprisingly more inviting than the odd contraption suited at the center of the room.

It was the source of the iron smell I had recognized upon entering the room, and also held the stench of the dead bodies and old blood. Frighteningly disgusting and repulsive as it was, I showed no interest in my face nor any sign of emotion towards Ibiki or his intimidating metal apparatus.

The object took up a vast area of the ground, running around in a nice sphere shape over the stone. In the center of it there was a hole that seemed to be the epicenter for the dead body smell and also appeared to be like a tube that would have items connecting to the body. Around the contraption in a semicircle there was an array of seats that seemed to connect to the metal item as well.

In the room there were a few other people that were to accompany us, some whom I was familiar with, and some who I had never before seen, including this tall blonde man. I tilted my head for I was sure I had seen somebody in his likeness around the village before but there was no way for me to put my finger on it. His deep blue eyes regarded me for a moment before Ibiki spoke.

"This is the two tails Tsunade has informed you on. Don't go easy on her," Ibiki ordered, pushing me forward at the group.

My glare met the blonde man's odd one for a little while before another voice spoke. It was neither his, nor Ibiki's that had spoken out, and I could clearly tell that it was not anybody else in the room. This growling apprehensive hiss mumbled in the back of my mind as though it were tired or just waking up from a long slumber.

_"You better get out of here little girl…"_

My light blue ear twitched slightly as this voice echoed in my head.

"_Nekomata… You have awoken once more I see…" _I thought back in response to my two tailed demon.

For the past nine months this cruel demon had not uttered a word like it constantly did prior to the point where I was diagnosed as pregnant. I had begun to forget about it before I had to give birth to Kana when the dormant neko demon attempted to break out. Even during its attempted escape the demon had not spoken a word. Now…Its rough voice spoke out, warning me to get away.

_"That damn baby used up all my energy," _Nekomata complained, _"But now that I'm back…I guess I'll have to help you out again. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you have to break out of this village. If they get in your head lover-boy is toast." _

I inwardly raised an eyebrow, well aware that the two tails could not see it, _"Since when have you cared about helping me or Sasuke?" _

Nekomata snorted a crackling demon laugh, _"I could care less what happens to that kid, but being under your restraint is bad enough. If these shinobi get information on Sasuke then you're ultimately their prisoner, which makes me their prisoner too. The headache you give me is probably a lot less than what they're planning to do." _

It was too much of a dream to believe that the Nibi was thinking of assisting someone other than itself for a change. Of course dreams are simply that and cannot ever be realized. My demon was certainly the one to prove that correct.

_"I will not hurt these people to escape," _I responded dully even as the shinobi began to take me into restraints. I offered not much resistance against them, but that was mostly because my mind was elsewhere.

_"You're going to have to, little Yasha-chan," _The cat demon's smirk was within its regrettably truthful words, _"Let their blood stain your hands…It will be alright. They made the first assault anyways." _

_"It does not matter…" _

_"Oh, does it not? Think about it…They're not going to let Kana get off easily, will they? What a mother you would be if your newborn baby got tormented because its mother wasn't there to protect it….If these people hold you in custody I highly doubt that Kana will be let off the hook." _

I froze instantly thinking about the words in which my demon countered my tranquility with. It was quite right, in fact, for if Kana is a child of the Uchiha clan then she is the property of Konoha until further notice. Therefore, this also meant that she was at their mercy unless I could get back to her.

The problem with breaking free as of the moment was the fact that my body was still weak from recent events and my only hope of escape would mean causing harm to these people, as well as letting Nekomata take over for a short while. I was apprehensive, however, for if I were to release some of the demons chakra would I be able to restrain it?

Surely if it were under any other circumstance it would have not been a problem to release the chakra, but with the seal so loose now and the Nibi's cage being so weak it was a hard decision.

_"It's Kana's life or theirs…" _Nekomata began to persuade.

I sighed, _"You are correct…" _

I was hesitant as I came back to my senses and could see that I was bound, with the group of men surrounding me. The blonde man had his square jaw tilted to the side as he regarded me the same as he did upon my arrival.

These restraints were not a problem. They were not meant to hold back the chakra of a demon.

I looked the blonde man right in the blue eyes, a hand sign struggling to be made behind my back. My hands trembled slightly as they fought against the chain that bound them together and eventually wound up making the hand seal of the Ram. With that one completed I moved on to create the Usagi, and then lastly the bird.

"Ibiki, I can see that she has a tough look behind those eyes," The blonde man pointed out, turning to face the man with the scarred face.

The moment he did, I muttered the words that would send some demonic chakra out of my body.

"Demon Seal: Shinto."

A tint of deep blue shaded my vision before suddenly everything was the swirling mix of a blue and black mist. Profound heat burned from the center of my stomach and began to move throughout my chakra system as it should have while letting a good amount of the demons chakra out of my system.

The restraints that secured my body against fighting shattered, and I bolted from my seat into the sea of shocked shinobi who were not expecting a release of this chakra and for my movements to be so swift that the human eye had a very difficult time following it.

The chakra boosted my body, and I felt the thirsting need for blood seep into my heart.

As planned, Nekomata was in control.


	3. Escaping the Great Village

**Chapter Three: Escaping the Great Village**  
** [Just a small warning: If you happen to have a really weak stomach towards gory scenes, proceed with caution. :) It may not be as bad as I find it to be, but this is for your safety as well as the safety of your trash cans which may have to suffer with the puke in their cans.]**

A painful burst of power is all one needs to know that they are about to cause a lot of problems.

Stinging pain was all I could feel throughout my weak body as chakra from the demon Nekomata began to course through my chakra system, intermingling with my own chakra to form a drastic demonic concoction. It had been close to a year since I had last used the jutsu to be in control of the two tails power, meaning that I was a poor rheostat.

Warmth from the flameing chakra licked my pale skin from the outside as I was now in the epicenter of a smoking mass of blue and black smoke that was not yet the full image of Nekomata. The chakra was dangerously visible off of my body, so the interrogation squad could see.

Coming close to me would mean certain incineration on their behalf. Running away would mean that I could easily break from the village and they would never get their so desired information.

It might have sounded a bit strange for my nature, but I would much rather have preferred the first option upon their demise. Usually it would not have mattered the least bit if they had lived or died but under the influence of demonic power there was a part of me that wanted the sheets of red liquid draping the walls and grounds. That wanted their insides torn from the very tissue that held them together and scattered upon the stone cold floor in heaps of blood and ripped apart flesh. I desired the very muscle that made up their person to be shredded for that if their assaults upon my head happened to come about anyway, they would be in pain.

_"No…"_ I told myself sullenly, _"That is not what you want…That is what Nekomata wants…Calm yourself and do not attack." _

_"Yasha!" _Another voice hissed at me, more than in the back of my mind now. It had engulfed the hearing of both of my neko ears, booming within them in a soft growl, _"Do not resist." _

_"I will resist…You cannot hurt these people…" _I replied darkly, shoving most of the demonic chakra back into its seal so it would not have total control over my mind, then turned my attention to the swarming mass of ANBU black ops that had burst through the stone wall, sending chunks of rock flying through the air and skidding to dangerous stops nearby myself and the other men in the room.

The first one I made eye contact with began to make hand signs in a swift manner, but because my escape depended on the clearance of these shinobi I could not allow him to finish the hand seals.

My feet flew across the floor, barely even touching the cold surface as I graced the room at a miraculous speed, and I drew my right hand which had the boiling chakra forming into a dangerous bubbling claw. The talons that drew from the chakra paw must have been about the size of one's entire forearm, meaning that the moment these razor sharp nails ripped through his flesh that ANBU would be nothing but merely a hunk of meat oozing blood from his severed body.

However, at the last moment I was able to withdraw my thirst for murder and drew the nails only across his torso, scraping only surface wounds upon his body. Deep, yes they were deep surface wounds, but they were not fatally harmful. The skin around it however had been burned to a bubble, pulling off a nice black and pink combination of burnt skin that was gradually, if not at an alarming rate, becoming coated in his blood. The four claw marks in his stomach were soon to be invisible under the sheet of thick liquid, coating the ground as well as his person.

The ANBU fell to the ground in a crumpled heap as I spun around to brace myself at the entourage of shinobi pushing their forces towards me.

My blue eyes ran across the crowd, scanning everything from the extensive gap in the wall to the slightest twitch of each shinobi finger. Nothing escaped my sight that moment, nothing flew by that I could not dodge or come up with an alternate route to knocking aside. Even the blue tipped white bang that usually became a bother to me was staying above my eyes, not at all the nuisance it habitually developed.

Now two of the ANBU began the hand signs that the last one had failed to complete as another comrade of the fallen one ran to retrieve the body.

I frowned, _"Do you not know to stop it? This is an impulse, you have to run." _I was close to screaming in my head at the idiocy of these shinobi but it showed not on the cool expression ironed onto my pale skin.

They continued to advance in their hand seals, and my forced thirst for their throats in my claws advanced as well. There was no choice; if they finished those hand seals I may as well be dead already.

With the same speed I used upon assaulting that first ANBU, I raced towards first the brown haired man on the left and slashed my claws through his body. I never ceased speed as I progressed towards the one on the right, deeming him the same fate even as he flipped out of the way.

Light on his feet as he was to flip over my head it was no use. I whipped around and began to chase him down like a cat would its mouse. For an instant it appeared as though he would make it away but that moment disappeared within seconds as I drew the first of my demonic neko tails and brought it crashing down upon his head; the sound of cracking bones ripping from their joints and tissues audible over the sound of the ground exploding from the impact.

When the Nibi's tail withdrew there was but a burnt figure of a blood coated mess in the dent on the ground.

I shook my head, knowing that I had just killed three people. Their fate was sealed, and so was mine.

There were now three more vengeful shinobi still in the room, the animal masks that shielded their faces also masked the expressions on their faces towards what I had just done to their comrades, but their body language said it all. They were frightened, tense, and angry. There was no way to really seal up a bijuu that was under control of its jinchuuriki host unless you had a very strong shinobi who was trained in that field so fighting me head on was suicide. However, at the same time, running would be improbable for their nature.

A few seconds was all I could give them to make a decision before I had to assault their team once more. With the same invisible speed that would rival even the jutsu of the Raikage I pushed off towards another ANBU with the demon claws outstretched.

They only had mere milliseconds before my nails protruded the skin that donned his throat, blood spurting out through the wound. A quick screech escaped his lips before the chakra paw wrapped two "fingers" about the vertebrae in his throat and yanked on it.

Cracking was heard as the spinal column that ran up to his head was ripped from the flesh that held it in place and was pulled out onto the floor, lying without a reason upon the stone coated in its own blood beside its owner who had fallen beside it.

The sight of this almost made me gag on my tongue but there was nothing I could do to avoid the blood bath for what Nekomata wanted was the only thing that could be held accountable for at the present time. For now there were two more ANBU to go and then another group of shinobi who would be slightly easier to dispose of.

But, as I turned my head, I saw the setting sun turning a deep orange mixed with tints of pink and deep purple. I realized that time was running short and that if I was to flee from this village than it had to be during the daylight when I could navigate my way throughout the waning forests that surrounded this place. The hole in the wall would act as the perfect escape route for me; the only issue would be to re-claiming Kana from the clutches of the medics.

With a sigh I spun from the bloody scene and sprinted out of the hole in the rock before any others could follow me, leaping out into the open air whilst sucking the demonic chakra back into its seal for good. This of course did spare the remaining shinobi in the facilities but did not do me the good of relinquishing a difficult escape. Their presence would make an escape much tougher in the sense of giving the rest of the village forewarning, but, as the events would be, I would have to ignore them and proceed to attaining my child.

My feet hit the gravel with a gentle _pat_ before I took off in the direction of the hospital, sharp pains vibrating through my body, but the adrenaline of it all keeping me on my feet.

The scenes of Konoha whizzed by in large blurs as I excelled in speed down the streets, my blood caked kimono flying out behind me, its once white fabric now stained with the deep red color of my opponent's blood. It was upsetting to know I would need to find replacement clothing, but of course that would need to come to mind later.

Upcoming was the large outline of the hospital in which I stayed in which was soon riding upon my right as I sped about it, scouting out for the room that I had stayed in.

Soon it was spotted and without a second thought I jumped up and smashed through the glass window.

Shards of transparent glass flew about the room and scattered about the ground as I entered through it, causing the medic that was attending to my child to jump high in the air.

I advanced upon him, but instead of assaulting him I simply strolled past him and picked up my child.

My cold blue eyes glared into his nervous brown ones as I brushed shoulders with the man upon my way out. Soon as he regained sense was soon to be the moment when he verbally barked at me.

"You are not authorized to be the guardian of that child—"

I whipped around, and grabbing a shard of the glass in my hand I flung it with terrifying accuracy at a spot in the center of his forehead. Without a doubt it was to pierce through the skull but I did not linger to find out the results.

Back out the window I fled in what was not a heated panic, but the thriving desire to save not what was myself, but Kana who was in as much danger as I was by staying here. It was now a known fact that this village had wanted to put a claim upon her head now that I seemed an unfit parent for such a young child as well as the reasons being she was an Uchiha child. They supposed that since she was a child of the Uchiha clan that meant she was property of Konoha.

_"That's wrong…" _I thought; face plain of emotions as I bounded atop the roofs of the homes that lined up across the street. Up here there were no interferences with my escape but at the same time that also meant there could be a potential planning to terminate our departure.

Correct was I as usual for once we came within sight of the front entrance there was an onslaught of leaf shinobi that rained down from above, whipping kunai towards me and Kana in hopes of bringing me down.

Without so much as a bat of an eyelash I ducked and evaded the hundreds of knives with only a few minor wounds scarring through my skin. A quick evaluation of Kana showed she was untouched, thankfully, and fast asleep miraculously throughout the fighting, but now was not the time to think about her sleeping patterns.

I knew that leaving the village would be impossible without a fight. There was no way to be elusive about that subject; we were predestined to be caught in a quarrel.

With a sigh I spun around on the platform of my foot just in time to duck an incoming attack from a katana.

My eyes immediately locked onto the katana and its owner. That was the one weapon I was very handy with, also being the weapon I had lost a year ago in an explosion from one of the Akatsuki members. It was a weapon I knew could ensure our escape and so I strategically thought out a way to claim that sword.

I nearly slid to the ground towards the ANBU member who attempted to jump in the air out of my reach, which failed. My one able arm that was not having a hold on Kana grasped onto his ankle just before he made it into the air and yanked him back down.

A fist came around towards my head with a freakishly fast forte. I had very little time to move my head to the side, but I managed and clutched onto his arm. With a jerk I twisted it around, not at all flinching when an distinct snapping of the bone was heard nor when his arm began to hang at an odd angle. Instead I wasted not the chance to slide the katana from his grip and preform a well-constructed backflip to create distance between us.

When I turned my head back towards the entrance I was disdained to see that the path was blocked entirely by leaf shinobi. There were many Jounin I was familiar with that were guarding as well. Upon scanning I could see the blonde man who was set to evaluate me was there as well as a larger set man with large red head set whom I had not seen before. There was also the jonin named Guy who as usual was wearing his skin tight green jump suit. It was quite repulsive if I should say so myself. Beside him there was a man with spiked gray hair which I knew to be Kakashi Hatake. The rest of these shinobi were ones whose faces I could either not see or were unrecognizable.

It was unfortunate that I had to make eye contact with Kakashi for he was somebody whom I did respect very much, and now having to fight him would be an unimaginable concept. Of course it would be much easier for me to fight him than it would be to fight, say, Sasuke for instance.

There was no time to think about that.

The sea of ninja came barreling towards me with some grace to their step without a second thought on what I could do to them.

Of course my abstinence in the slaughter of persons within my rage was a great disadvantage for I felt it unnecessary to take lives that were merely doing their jobs now that Nekomata's chakra had been completely cleared from my system. That did not mean I was not willing to destroy those who even attempted to take Kana from me.

_"She is not just mine. She is Sasuke's. Letting go of her is letting go of Sasuke again…That will not happen." _

The only thought that could repeatedly play in my head was that. The moment Kana was out of my arms would be just like the time Sasuke left, only the pain would be worse. It was vital to protect her, for to me she was the Sasuke I had been with. She was just his incarnate so I had the protective instincts just for her. I needed to keep this child. These shinobi could do nothing that would have our separation.

With that dark thought in mind I gripped the hilt of the katana then shifted to the side of the crowd. Chakra kept my feel nailed to the sides of the building walls as I wove in and out of the shinobi assaults, occasionally feeling the stabbing pains of birth aftermath and the newly entered cuts of the enemy sword. It was something I would just have to deal with, and as long as Kana was safe there really was no harm done.

Blood was soon pouring down my sides as I had been hit multiple times by sharp items, but all the meanwhile I had made it to the door of the great village, and that was when my chakra system had regained composure and I could teleport away, closely chased by the shinobi of course, but my teleportation skills far surpassed theirs for my surplus of chakra so I could go much farther than they ever could.

Ah, the pathetic weaknesses of a human body.

Always breaking down on oneself when they need it the most.

After teleporting somewhere far away from the village in a wood the only thing I could do was keel over, grasping onto Kana for dear life. My head felt dizzy and I was nauseous from chakra overuse and childbirth. My blood was trickling down my sides and into the grass beneath my stained white kimono, glazing the green with a coating of red. My body almost felt numb from too much usage so quickly, and so the only thing I could do from that point on was allow my body to fall limply down on the earth in a weak panic. My arms that were so tightly holding onto Kana were now loosening up, not of my own will but of the weariness of my muscles, and my eyelids soon dropped over my blue eyes.

Weariness took over me like a wave washing over the shore and eroding the sand away.

I should have fainted within seconds of my lids closing, but the thing that kept me in my sense was the faint sound of Kana's crying somewhere in the back of my mind.

In slight fear I reached out my hand in hopes of touching her frail body before passing out, but when I should have touched her little self I instead had grasped onto a hand much bigger than what hers would have been.

It's warm fingers curled around my cold hand in reassurance, but I did not trust it.

Too late it was for my decisions to take place for even though I did not trust the comforting hand, I fainted anyways.

**[See, that was a bit longer, wasn't it…yeah…heheh…. Um… Review please! :D Those would be nice…. ]**


	4. Koharu

**Koharu **

**[I've hit a road block in ideas… Well, shoot.] **

What is there to do when all you can see before you is a never ending scenery of white canvas, spreading out into the horizon that seems nonexistent? When you attempt to hold up your hands and you discover that your limb has disappeared? What type of reaction are you supposed to depict when put under such strange circumstances that appear not plausible to science?

There is not much I can elucidate about how I felt about this odd scenario.

Beyond me there was only white…Pure white that seemed illuminated by sunlight that came without a source. Even as I scanned about the grounds there was no sign of a foundation for this light.

Everything was intolerably bright and unrealistic so I began to query myself for answers, for maybe I had fallen dead of blood loss or the hand that had stretched out towards me had banished my soul from my body and set it free. But no, it seemed unrealistic that I, one so hopeless in the world, be targeted by a hand that appeared so gentle.

If I were dead, that earnest hand would not have been the one to finish me off.

So where could I be situated?

_"Hello…?" _A voice so gentle and almost familiar spoke within the very subconscious of my mind. In hopes of finding the source of this voice I whipped around with eyes slightly opened in shock.

"Sasuke-?" I began to ask yet was forced to falter as there was nothing there to assure me this was my Uchiha, only the blank stretch across forever. However, that voice had sounded so much like him that I was having a hard time believing that it was not him. Maybe I was just losing my sense of mind and I was finally feeling the worst of my loss of Sasuke deep within where I did not know this type of pain lay.

_"Hello there…?" _

There the voice was again speaking louder in my head as though it were now trying to yell through my brain to awaken me from whatever eccentric landscape I had been sent to. No, it was not just a voice, that was most definitely Sasuke's voice…I could not have mistaken his voice for anything else in the world, and this most certainly was it.

But then again, it was absurd to believe anything of the such.

There were only two logical ideas that could come to mind, and those would be that I was finally snapping loose and losing what sanity I had or that I was under a drugged influence. Neither one did I find welcome.

_"Miss…? Please wake up… Your baby is crying…What do I do with her?" _The feeble voice asked again, once more gaining my attention, yet this time I was a lot more aware of what was going on. "Wake up." I was asleep. That was all.

"What are you an idiot?"

My eyes opened up by a fraction of a centimeter when I felt a breath on the back of my neck, a pair of lips so very close to my skin that even though it was a dream I felt as though it should not be one. Arms came from behind and held me warmly against another human body that even I, though skeptic, could feel it was as real as a body could get.

"Wake up, cat, do you think you can afford to be wasting time?"

I bit my lip hesitantly before slowly turning around to confirm my fear.

Ah, what a harsh dream I had been tossed into, one where the very positive image of my Uchiha lay within the depths of my mind and had come out to torment one so weak. There he was, no doubt about it, that same pale skinned, cold eyed Sasuke Uchiha who looked no different from the day we parted, now standing here in this dream holding me tightly and telling me to wake up.

More demonic it was then the very soul that was captive within my body this dream decided to be. Having my one weakness come to me in my time of sudden strength to knock me down once more, holding me in such a comforting way yet at the same time telling me to wake up and part with him again.

"Don't look at me like that," Sasuke grouched, his hands gracing across my stomach, "You're a bloody mess. Go clean up."

I blinked at what strange words he had muttered, but when I looked down I indeed saw my garments stained with blood that did not appear to be mine. The blood now covered the once entirely white room, eerily trickling down the walls and coming at a pool by my feet.

"…You…Are not real…" I noted sadly, reaching my hand up to caress his icy cheek in the way I enjoyed doing when he was truly there.

"Hn," Sasuke turned his nose up at me, separating my touch from his skin abruptly, "Obviously."

"So what are you?" I questioned softly as I leaned my head on his shoulder, satin white hair dropping down on his person.

"Don't ask such a stupid question," The Uchiha image rolled his eyes arrogantly, "Just wake up, you aren't anything pleasant to see."

As Sasuke spoke he gradually faded, becoming transparent and suddenly untouchable. Because of my inability to show much emotions I could only reach my hand out at his fading form, mouth slightly gaped open, "Sasuke—" but as I pleaded I could see that I as well was fading out and the blood everywhere was turning a dark black.

My vision dotted completely black before a jolt ran through my body.

I sat up with eyes wide open in shock at being brought awake so quickly. It was easy to see that I was forced awake only by my own will of not wanting to leave Sasuke slowly. If it were to be done, it had to be done quickly, however that was pushed somewhere back into my mind as I took in the strange new location I was in.

These blood caked clothes were still on my body but as far as I could see I was in no immediate danger. My surroundings seemed to pose no threat. In fact it looked no more than merely somebody's home with its wooded walls and comfortably red carpeted floors in which I was lain on. Of course there was a sheet underneath me which prevented the now dried blood from seeping into the rugs, but nevertheless I was on the ground. There were a few decently sized windows that were implanted into the wooden walls along with a single couch and a desk that was almost empty. It was a cute little room, I must admit.

While scanning about the room it was difficult to miss the person sitting directly to my left, legs folded neatly underneath him as he cradled a baby in his arms. His light green hair was pulled back into a tiny ponytail, but there were still two long braids on either end coming from behind bangs that dropped beside his face. As much as I could see from down here he had gentle blue eyes that were staring nervously into the bundle of blankets he cradled.

"Oh-You're awake!" The male sighed as though the weight of the world was just lifted from his shoulders and a smile soon graced his rather young face, "How are you feeling?"

I stared at him blankly, not at all giving a response.

His smile became a little more awkward but it was still rather kind, "…Is that good or bad?"

I continued to stare insipidly at him with no sign of showing an emotion of acknowledgement.

His eyes squinted shut as he now scratched the back of his head, "Come on you're not giving me much to work with here."

"…Who are you?" I finally asked with a dull edge to my voice, bright blue eyes lain upon him like stones in almost a silent command that he answer.

The green haired boy laughed a bit and opened his own eyes to provide me a warming look, "Well at least you aren't a mute. I'm Koharu, but feel free to call me Ko. And yourself?"

It took me a little while to respond for I was engulfed in staring about the room, but when I did come up with some sort of answer it was not one directly towards his question. In fact it had nothing to do with his question at all.

"Where is Kana?" I inquired, a small frown creasing my lips upon my search for the newborn. My ease was quickly restored as the boy named Koharu held out the bundle of blankets to me with tentive care as though he were handing me a very fragile piece of glass.

"Is Kana her name? She's very cute," Koharu complimented sweetly, his hands dropping into his lap as he passed Kana to my possession. This boy seemed very easy going and not one to be forceful at all. Docile I would say but not childish, "Is she yours?"

I nodded slightly in answer but was more infatuated with checking my child over for any injury she may have acquired during the quarrel. I was pleased to find that there were no indentations on her skin yet all the while I could feel Koharu's eyes locked on me.

"Yasha," I said to ease his curiosity.

Koharu continued to smile at me although I must have looked like a mess, "Well, Yasha, I'm glad to see you're awake. Are you feeling alright?"

Again I provided him a gentle nod and not much else, but thinking back on it, what would there have been to say? Even if I was not alright why would I bring out my weaknesses to a complete stranger?

"Ah…Okay, well, Yasha…Um, if you need anything I'm here. I got you some new clothes but thought you'd like to change into them on your own terms…" Koharu coughed awkwardly, "Any food you want feel free to go through the cabinets if you'd like…"

I tilted my head up at the green haired boy with a questioning gaze, "You…Got me clothes?"

"Oh yeah, I mean I figured with all the blood and dirt, you'd enjoy something new… Besides if you keep dirty blood around a baby that young she might get a disease, and let's face it, she's too adorable to get sick," Koharu grinned and stood up. I could see from down here that he was a lot taller than myself, maybe 5"11 compared to my small height of 5"2, "You like blue and white, right? By your hair and clothes I figured…Anyways, hopefully they fit." And down his hands came as he handed me a neatly folded pile of blue and white cloth.

I took them gratefully, but without showing it. Just as I sat up and began to unfold the garments I heard the door click shut as the boy left the room.

Within moments of his disappearance from my presence I carefully lay Kana down on the white sheets, surprisingly not tainted by the red staining blood, and removed the kimono from my person. It was a wonder that the only marks on me were a couple light bruises on my arms and wrists where I had been man-handled before by Ibiki. The whole rest of my body was untouched, including my stomach which had already begun to turn back into its normal flat skin. I supposed it was a result of Nekomata's healing with the chakra although as it healed it also destroyed.

I dressed quickly and was surprised to see that I did not find the outfit at all unappealing.

It was a light blue robe with sleeves that came down to just above my elbows and wrapped around above my chest, but was strapped at my waist with a white bandage. The bottom half dropped as a long rectangle in front, separate from the dropping rectangle in the back. Underneath it was a white long sleeved shirt that ended at my fingers with small elastics spread out through the sleeve. My pants were simple, white and baggy, that easily tucked into my sandals.

It was suitable, that was apparent, but what surprised me most of all was that somebody whom I knew not would consider the kindness of providing me new attire as well as accommodations.

About an hour later Koharu came in to check on me as I was feeding Kana. Somehow I knew that I had to breast feed the newborn, even though I had never once seen a woman feeding her child nor ever been told what to do. Maybe it was instinctive…Though that did not make up for the uncomforting sensation which accompanied the feeding.

It was lucky that Koharu had the decency to knock before entering, giving me time to remove Kana's tiny lips from my nipple and pull my shirt back into place before the owner entered the room and sat down on the couch next to me.

I spoke before he did, "Where are we?"

"Um…Well the literal answer would be my house…"

"How close to Konoha are we?" I grumbled dully in response, staring at the green haired boy out of the corner of my eye.

"A few miles off… Maybe ten or twenty miles…I'm actually not sure, I've never been to the place," Koharu shrugged politely, "but if you needed to get there it wouldn't be a problem to escort you."

I shook my head slightly, "No that will not be necessary, thank you… "

There was a large gap of silence after Koharu's questioning "You're welcome." In which nobody knew what to say to the other. Ah, but truly, what was there to say? On my behalf, surely, there was nothing more to mention for if there were any question I possessed I could answer it on my own, somehow. However, it was Koharu who had entered the room with hopes of conversing; therefore it was not in my place to create the conversation.

"So…Where are you coming from, Yasha?" Koharu asked as though it were light conversation, his head tilted to the side in questioning.

"I am coming from nowhere," I replied sullenly with the same unchanging monotone voice.

"Er… Well, you must've come from somewhere…" The green haired boy noted awkwardly, but after my lack of response he found it much better to change the subject, "Are you hungry?"

"Hm?" I tilted my head in his direction questioningly, "I suppose not…" Of course my statement was certainly not helped when my stomach emit a low growl which was clearly audible to anybody within the facility; which, to my disdain, included Koharu, who smiled upon being proven correct. To my relief however, it was not a cocky smirk as I was so used to from a certain Uchiha. It was but a sympathetic sweet smile that assured me that it was alright to admit to my hunger.

"Com'mon. What do you like?" Koharu asked with a light friendly tone as he rose from the couch.

In my head I was secretly thinking that I would much enjoy dispatching from this place and going on with my life to start a search for Sasuke, but on the outside I simply shrugged.

At that moment Kana began to cry again and I had to sigh a little bit, "I must feed Kana before I feed myself… If you please," I tilted my head slightly towards the door, implying that it would be in Koharu's best interest to leave the room lest he observe something that no male should.

With an awkward grin, the boy nodded in agreement and retreated from the room with a reminder that if I were to need anything that I could prowl amongst by my own free will.

Once he left I let out a long, exasperated sigh and turned my attention back to the crying infant.

"Hush now, Kana…" I mumbled in barely a whisper as I swept my hand across the tuff that was her midnight black hair, dull blue eyes glazing over with a thin layer of water as I began to allow my thoughts to stray off to the Uchiha.

What if he never came to meet his own child?

What if I went out in search of Sasuke to find he had already been killed?

And what…What would happen when I finally did meet with him once more?

Would the outcome be positive or negative? Would he have grown away from me and want to stay away? Was there any way that I could possibly bring up Kana to him?

_"You're overthinking this little Yasha-chan…" _The harsh demonic voice of Nekomata broke through my distressed thoughts with its malicious chuckling, _"Put it this way…How could you possibly get back what was never yours?" _

I bit my lip at the very thought of this.

The two tailed demon sealed away within me may have had a point.

What if Sasuke just never belonged to me?

**[Reviews for a confused writer? ^o^  
- Ju.] **


	5. Reliving the Past: False Analysis

**Reliving the Past: A false analysis. **

**[AHH I give full happy credit to my newly dubbed best friend John who reviewed once and made my life burst with excitement! Thank you stranger for that amazing idea with kaka-sensei, I love you forever and full credit goes to them! (See the happiness that comes about when people relieve you from a writer's block? :D)]**

How can one love when there is nothing left to love? Or rather, how can you feel happiness when your life, your reason for living, just never belonged to you in the first place? How can one ever feel content with the knowledge, the absolute conformity, that they were not wanted. That even the one they cherished the most had decided that they would never be an item of possession. How can some already torn soul rejuvenate after coming to terms with the truth? How could a worthless nothing like myself ever mean anything to a shinobi as powerful as Sasuke?

No, it was impossible to somehow mean the slightest of things to that Uchiha, no matter how many times in the past he may have assured it. He never belonged to me in the first place, that was why, even after a year, he never came to find me. That was why. The pain bound me to him. I _had _to chase after him. It was not a matter of choice, but now it was my curious neko side taking effect. It was a loyalty instinct.

Even if Sasuke had never truly been mine, or so I believed, I had to go find the stoic boy anyways.

'You're forgetting why he left…" My subconscious reminded.

It was a strange occurrence as to why he left, really. In all honesty I could not bring myself to trusting the reasoning's Sasuke had given me for his departure. He had assured me that I was going to be safer if he left, that no harm would befall me so long as he kept his distance. However, he left to go join forces with his dead ancestor, this so called "Madara Uchiha."

The name itself had the stunning ability to strike fear into the hearts of people everywhere. Even way back in the cloud village we heard stories about his thrilling assaults on Shinobi. What a blood chilling demonic oppose he must have been. What a monster he must have been. Just his name…That was all it took to begin a fearful reaction amongst all but myself.

To me he was nothing more than a dead failure, from the stories I had overhead, because dead failures recognized their own kind, no?

However, that was just it. Madara Uchiha had been killed off a long time ago by the first Hokage of Konohagakure. He was _dead. _Sasuke could not have meant the same Madara…Which was precisely the reason I trusted him not.

How could I?

A lie that far-fetched was ridiculous and insulting. It would have hurt my pride if I had donned the emotional capacity to have any. Yet, the fact that he had lied alone was enough to tear me down to rubble once more, but to think that he had done it almost immediately after he bedded with me.

It truly was revolting, but even so, I still had to chase him down. Find out the truth. Understand why he chose to do such a thing while still knowing he did not want me; Yasha; the dirt under his shoes; a good for nothing Jinchuuriki; a disgusting murderous girl who could not be classified as a human or animal. I was nothing…And Sasuke knew it.

With this, I must restate my questions. How can one love when there is nothing left to love? How can you live when your reason for living is not even yours? How can you smile with no happiness?

The answer is-You cannot.

So how is it possible for humanity to live with itself every day with smiles glazing over their faces, incoherent of the real pain that resides within a life?

What a messed up world we were trapped in. Like birds we were caged in a hopeless world, unable to leave or do anything about our born solitude but fight a one sided war.

Even back when I was happily with Sasuke there was no way to escape the metal bars binding me to the terrorous earth. I could clearly remember the last night that he spent with me before the sudden departure. To me it appeared far too generous for the spirits of the earth to grant me such a happy moment with another being…Far too unbelievable for somebody like Sasuke to want to lay there with me like that. It was only sensible that the bars were still around me; still locking me within its grasp, for too soon was the Uchiha to leave…It was a wonder that even with those words he softly whispered to me that I could not sense the lies. Maybe I had, but just never thought enough about it.

Gazing down at Kana seemed to be the only way to bring myself to truly thing about what Sasuke had told me that night. It was almost like observing her was like being with Sasuke all over again; That if I merely closed my eyes with her in my arms I could easily slip back to that night.

_"…You're quiet…" Sasuke noted in a hushed tone, breathing heavily against my throat as his head leaned onto my bare shoulder with his arms wrapped tightly around my small body, hesitant to release its grasp. My fingers were barely gripping onto the arm draped over my stomach, gently trailing up and down his forearm as though mapping out the feel of his limb. I was far too mesmerized to comprehend the audacity of what we had just done to speak much. _

_"Hai…" I replied softly with warm lips barely moving to release the single word that almost pushed my lungs from my throat as they attempted to bring in the most air with the smallest of actions. _

_"You're tired?" The Uchiha questioned as though he were teasing me, his smirk being felt against the smooth surface of my skin, every breath he let out gliding over the pale glass that stretched over my neck sending nonchalant shivers down my spine. _

_I stared blankly up at the endless stretch of black ceiling, painted over with shadows of the night, "…No…" _

_"Hn," Sasuke huffed as his hand ran down lower towards my bare thigh that was part of the little bits of my body covered by the blankets. Any parts not covered by the warm sheets were mostly blocked by Sasuke. _

_ "What is it…?" I inquired in a whisper, tilting my head to the side to rest on top of the messy mound of raven hair that was Sasuke's head, not at all tensing when his hand wandered. _

_It took the Uchiha quite a little while to respond before finally something barely audible made its way past his lips, "Nothing…" _

_I chuckled very lightly while pushing my fingers through his moppy hair, "What is troubling you, Sasuke?" _

_"Nothing," Sasuke assured grouchily, that cold touch to his voice instantly returning once I began to pursue his thoughts. Of course because my lack of emotional capacity I could not feel the insult at his tone and simply sighed. _

_In a simply movement I was able to roll the Uchiha onto his back and rest my chin upon his chest, crystal blue eyes peeping up at him through white bangs, blue neko ears bent down slightly to indicate my interest in his business, "You are as easy to read as a book…" _

_"Hn," Sasuke looked away from me as though he were merely pained above all else, "You're the only one who can say that." _

_I flashed him a try at a light smirk, "Oh? Why would that be…?" while barely nuzzling my face into the crook of his neck, feeling this odd comfort at this unfamiliar closeness. _

_"…You're different," Sasuke sighed as my tongue slightly ran across his collar bone, poking around at his skin before slowly receding back behind my teeth, "I don't mean that in a good way." _

_I frowned ever so slightly but made no eye contact with the boy as my own were shut, my ears steadily picking up his heartbeat as the little felt-like ears were pressed against his skin. _

_"Why is that?" I asked without much tone to my voice. _

_What Sasuke said next did not make much sense for the situation, but that I did not know until later, "…Yasha, I'm sorry." _

"_Feh, you're so depressing…" _Nekomata whined in the back of my head, meowing in annoyance that I decided to think a little, _"Just leave the baby here and go chase Sasuke…Relieve me of the headaches that are your thoughts." _

I sighed in agitation at the words of my demon, questioning why it was so rash and acted with the utmost stupidity. Maybe it was a characteristic that it had required from its present Jinchuuriki…but then again. I had no character. I was nobody. A nobody with such depressing memories that it seemed fit for someone like me. How such a happy recollection could turn into something so bitter.

Sitting outside was the one thing that allowed me a sanctuary in a comfortable zone, free of all intervention that was not Kana. Koharu seemed to know enough to provide me my own space and he bothered me none. It was only the loud twittering of birds that caused me a bothersome headache. The way they chirped made it appear almost unnatural as the high pitched squawks were following a sentence pattern.

I watched cautiously as the birds suddenly erupted from the tree tops in a hurricane of feather and fear, spreading out towards the cloudy gray sky and disappearing behind a curtain of white.

How strange it was indeed…

Yet, as it was so strange, I did nothing to necessarily move from my place even as my sensitive neko ears began to pick up on the delicate sounds being made as foot hit branch.

I stayed put; unable to feel the fear a usual person would, and simply stared. Stared with the utmost boredom at the approaching figure, Kana tightly held in my arms as she slept on, yet I was alert as any shinobi could be at this point. Whoever this was who approached my location was either in a rush to destroy some being or they were simply looking for somebody. Either way it could be made clear they were a shinobi.

Suddenly, very suddenly, the rustling and movement stopped altogether as the person ceased their movements.

My ears perked up as they searched for any audible signals of their approach; however that was not to be found. It was apparent that this one had instantly stopped…Whether it was somewhere nearby or far away I could not be precise about, though close I could presume for I felt as though there was a pair of eyes intently watching over me.

Apprehensively I spoke up, "…Who are you?"

No response.

On full alert I glared into the bustle of leaves that crowded together, clouding my vision from any approaching enemy. My first thought was to make sure that Kana was in a particularly safe area therefore that resulted in getting her out of the woodsy area and back into the shielded walls of Koharu's house.

The moment I appeared on the windowsill, too anxious to take the front door, I saw Koharu standing there looking quite baffled at my sudden entrance.

"…You uh, know there's a front door, right?" He asked slowly, his thumb jutting towards the opposite end of the house which I bluntly ignored by simply giving Koharu a cold stare, placing Yasha into his arms, though doubtfully, and disappeared back out of the window after snatching away the stolen katana.

If, in the very likely case, this was an oncoming attack from the Konoha forces, then I would have to put all my power into driving them back, even if the cold glaze on my face showed none of this odd determination. What it was exactly I was protecting, I could not say. Whether it was Kana herself or the mere memory of Sasuke she provided for me, I knew not. If I truly cared for the survival of that boy Koharu, that was left to be unsaid. I could not be certain about anything, but fight to live was what I must do.

I entered the foreground, eyes alert as they darted from side to side. My neko ears were perked up to listen for any sign of movement while my hand was gripped loosely on the cloth covered hilt of the claimed katana.

And then I saw it.

Whatever "it" was, that so brought on the appearance of something that ripped my heart apart into shreds that seemed to have already been destroyed, looked red. A bloody red orb simply floating amongst the shadows of the waning sun, the other half of the face hidden by a cloak of black shadow.

I nearly dropped my katana.

That was a _sharingan. _

There was no mistaking the murderous appearance that a sharingan could take on with its bloody back drop and ink black features driven onto the look. It beheld me for moments to come, and I it, hands frozen on the hilt of my blade and eyes stuck on staring directly at this sharingan.

Eventually I could not contain myself much longer.

"S-Sasuke…?" I questioned softly, lips deceiving my brain as I told myself repeatedly not to speak. Not speaking was the ultimate form of privacy and steadiness one needs to fulfill their role as a kunoichi such as myself. A stoic, uncaring neko was what I was made out to be, and so my lack of speech was there to withhold that reputation. The moment that name escaped my lips I had failed that persona.

Instantly the sharingan disappeared, and with it my hopes of communication.

Whether the move was intelligent or highly dumb I could not let the possibility of an encounter with Sasuke slip away from me. I acted as quick as anybody could have in this situation, the wind at my feet almost pushing the grass away at the force I used to sprint after this sharingan. I diverged into the leafy dungeon of the forest, the tall brown masts of bark acting as the perfect hiding places for any assaulting shinobi, the sweet aroma of the summer flowers wafting into my sensitive nose as they let out their last cries for life before the fall came, blocking out any chance of catching a scent.

I ran blindly through the foresty maze allowing my feet to simply throw me wherever they wished so long as I caught onto that sharingan user.

Unfortunately the desperation to meet up with Sasuke once again was what gave the enemy the first signal to make their assaults on me.

In the fleeting moment where all my senses were dulled there was a sudden force cracking through my spine that sent me tumbling to the ground, allowing me only a little leeway to perform a 180 spin in the air and land sloppily on my feet with my hand dragging hopelessly in front to regain balance.

When my head had bounced up to glare forward at the one who approached me I saw once again that bloody red sharingan, staring through my soul, but unfortunately what I saw beside that was not my Sasuke; simply one with a counterfeit sharingan.

"…You've followed me…?" I sighed at the depression that seemed to come so easily after this let down.

The silver haired man stared at me with almost a sad expression on his masked face, "I'm sorry Yasha, but you pose a threat…I must take you out."

I tilted my head towards the man, once again allowing my blank face to take its place upon my features, "I care not for your village…Kakashi," but that was nothing that mattered to the man for before I could even finish my sentence, Kakashi Hatake moved in for the kill.

**[Okay, yeah, the entire "get kakashi mixed up for Sasuke then lets have a quarrel" thing was John's idea! You're still amazing by the way! My apologies for a somewhat sloppy chapter, but….Let's face it, we're getting closer to summer ****J**** Intention span = that of a squirrel with half a brain. Er-anyway, hope you enjoyed~  
PEACE, LOVE, KIT-KATS!  
-Ju. ] **


	6. Saved

**Chapter 6: Saved**

**[Now the moment we've all been waiting for…I think… xD Drumroll~] **

I was able to drop to the ground just in time to avoid a hooked hit to the cheek and roll away before Kakashi could kick me down. My stolen katana whipped out to slash him across the side, no intention of really hurting the man, but aiming for places that would merely knock him aside. Even so, he moved along with the motion of the sword and avoided its blade.

I frowned ever so slightly as my mind pondered a multitude of things that could have been going on at the moment.

For one, unless Kakashi had been supremely rash in taking action, there should have been some form of backup with him. There were no other chakra sources in the area other than his and the faint traces of those that lingered within Kana. Of course there was also the dormant chakra that lay within Koharu, but other than that there was no way to sense another presence. So what kind of trap could this be? The second thing that crossed my mind was that Kakashi was not a man to harm such innocence as neither Koharu nor Kana, but if he associated Koharu with helping a criminal, what would happen to that boy? Surely I would not care for his wellbeing, however, it was the mere feeling of debt that had me worried.

If I were to possibly lure Kakashi away from the home then he may not take Koharu into accountance…However that also meant I had to retrieve Kana from the home and leave instantly without Kakashi's knowledge of having a house nearby. This obviously meant that I had to escape from his sight if only for a little while.

It was unfortunate for Kakashi that I was not a combat kunoichi, but one built for stealth.

While the quick witted shinobi formed hand seals for the lightning blade I took the opportunity to use a swift substitution jutsu, landing me a place deep in the branches of the trees. Whether Kakashi had caught onto that substation or not, this was not the time to ponder.

My feet left the tree branch before a blink could be created and silently landed on another branch in order to make my escape. I flew from branch to branch as though I were merely a passing spirit, hardly touching the bark or acknowledging the multitude of branches and leaves that whipped themselves against my pale face.

By the time I had dropped from the trees onto the ground once more in front of Koharu's home I had small cuts scattered about my skin, but I took no time to care about them. I entered through the same window I had from before and followed koharu's scent into the same room he had allowed me and Kana to stay in.

It appeared as though Koharu was attempting to slip some milk into kana's mouth through a baby bottle, which she was bluntly refusing, before I took her back into my arms and once more gave Koharu and blank stare.

"This must be swift. I have to thank you for your hospitality towards myself and my child," I bowed my head slightly to show the light gratitude I held, "but we must depart now. Stay inside for today and do not do anything to give yourself away." With that I spun around and maneuvered my way throughout his home before reaching the window once more.

Koharu of course had to chase after me with his mouth gaping slightly open, "Wh—Yasha where are you-?"

I disappeared before Koharu could finish his sentence without looking back twice.

Whatever happened to that boy next was no longer my concern for I was fixated on driving Hatake away from the area. I had no doubts that he would not hurt Koharu, however, a shinobi does what one must do.

While a very little space of my mind was occupied with scurrying away from the premise my senses were all on high caution. My nose was tricking to pick through the sweet smells of the outdoor air to reach Kakashi's scent, which proved to be a failed endeavor. My ears were perked up to their full height as they attempted to isolate any sounds of movement that came from neither myself nor simple animals. My eyes were darting from the sky to the ground and to either side, constantly flickering about the moving landscape, working together with my nose and my ears to locate the shinobi which proved to be a very difficult task.

Either Kakashi was not following me or he was being exceptionally quiet, but regardless I had to continue moving. Staying back and fighting would be an out-of-the-question option as I had Kana with me now, but stopping was also intentional suicide.

_"He's close on you," _Nekomata mulled in the back of my mind, warning me of an attack merely seconds before it happened.

I was able to hold up a one arm guard in front of my face as Kakashi burst from the ground with a kunai in hand, aiming for my throat. My forearm caught the blow of the blade and blood burst open through a deep gash that was created. I simply frowned at the assault, pleased that it had not hit my throat, but bothered that now I would have to deal with an open wound.

Still it gave my mind no excuse to wander. My body acted instinctively against the attack I maneuvered myself about Kakashi as he was released from the rocky hideaway underneath my feet and came up about his back. With this quick movement I yanked the katana out of the make-do sheath on my waist and went to make a clean slice through Kakashi's back.

He, however, seemed to have planned for such an action for when the blade was about to make contact I was suddenly tripped and forcefully thrown to the ground. My eyes widened slightly as I realized the immediate danger Kana was in at the angle of this fall.

With what little time I had I was able to twist my body so my side was crushed against the rocky terrain, but Kana was unharmed.

I stared boredly down at my feet when I realized that the reason I had tripped was because there was a thin wire wrapped around my ankles. This same wire, popularly used among shinobi, was just now visible to the eye as the sunlight hit it in just the right angles. It had gotten caught on my feet because it was not solely in that area, but it was stretched and wrapped around the bark of many of the trees, covering much ground area and air space.

While I quickly raced through my thoughts to ponder about what it was I could do to make a clean escape without the mess of being tangled within these wires, I took the katana and slashed through the wire at my feet, deeming myself free.

That did not mean Kakashi meant for me to be freed.

When I tried to stand once more there was another entourage of wires that shot out from an indecisive location and once more got snarled in my ankles, knocking me back down to the ground.

I heard a distinct crackling sound from up ahead, but not with enough time to dodge this battering.

When I tilted my head up to see a blinding white light merely inches from my face accompanied by a searing heat I knew there was no way I could completely avoid a painful blow. All I could do was make sure that Kana was out of the way of the path of this destructive jutsu, and so I had to hold my body over hers while attempting a roll-away, waiting for the pain of the jutsu to enter through my back.

A few seconds passed… Only a few before I realized I was not harmed at all.

With a soft blink I held my head above to the light of the waning sun, when, what I saw was not the sun nor was it Kakashi rearing for an attack.

Facing me was a back that donned a gray, high collared shirt and above it was a tuff of scruffy black hair now just settling into place as it seemed to have been in motion.

My heart almost stopped, wondering if that was just an illusion or if it was reality, when my eyes locked onto the Uchiha symbol located on the back of the shirt. That was when my mouth slightly gaped open.

_"S-Sasuke?" _I yelled in my mind, too shocked to speak as I stared up at his god-like silhouette, his arm extended towards the crackling light that was held in Kakashi's hand. It seemed that Sasuke had grasped onto Kakashi's wrist at the last second and was somehow unharmed by the jutsu. Maybe that was because of Sasuke's lightning nature that it was no problem to control something as such.

Almost as though Sasuke had read into my thoughts, his head slowly began to turn back to stare at me.

I held my breath, apprehensive about what would happen when he turned. Would it be his face that I saw, or would it all be some sort of mistake?

Finally those agonizing seconds went by, much slower than they should have been, and when they did there was a single blood red eye glaring at me at just the corner, a drop of raven black hair to cover most of the half that I should have been able to see. The eye held deep despair and anger as it stared me down, eye contact not breaking.

"…Tch…Useless as always," Sasuke muttered before closing the eye and turning back to Kakashi who seemed just as shocked as I was to have Sasuke blocking his attack.

The leaf jonin took this as the perfect opportunity to back out of the blocked grip, and did as such, but not without showing his surprised side.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi exclaimed as though he had seen a ghost, his normal and sharingan eye wide with astonishment.

From even back here I could sense Sasuke staring daggers through Kakashi's soul, because that was how this atmosphere was depicted. If anything there was a deadly aura protruding from Sasuke's body that threatened Kakashi full well. However I cannot say that I was well aware of this at the time. I was mostly fixated on the surprising appearance of the Uchiha and the perfect timing of it all.

"…Kakashi I didn't expect you to be attacking her…" Sasuke noted threateningly in that monotone, his hands hanging limply by his sides as though he needed only his glare to get Kakashi to run.

"I _thought_ somebody was paying close attention to the village," Kakashi sighed, "I'll take it that was you, Sasuke."

"Hn," Sasuke huffed, neither admitting nor denying.

I could only tilt my head in confusion at such a thought. Kakashi had sensed somebody keeping a close eye on the village and then Sasuke had so suddenly just turned up in between us… Did that mean Sasuke had been the one watching the village? Had he ever really left me in the first place?

"Well congratulations on your child…Though I never pegged you for the type to do that. I'm sure Sakura is fuming back in Konoha," Kakashi said with an air of gentle conversation, one that was simply something to be spoken of over a meal and not in the middle of a quarrel. As though he were once again speaking to the Sasuke that had been in Konoha…Whoever that was.

The Uchiha did not take too kindly to the speech, in reality his tone darkened considerably as he turned to look back at me, those ruby eyes now stone cold, "…My child? You don't mean that thing, do you?" His eyes flickered towards Kana and then back up to my own eyes.

I gave the impression to be one lacking of maternal instincts for I did not even flinch when Sasuke called Kana a "thing," however I did falter my glare when Sasuke turned his on me.

"… I suppose this will have to wait, I don't have time for you, Kakashi," Sasuke said, speaking to the shinobi behind him while still keeping his gaze locked on my eyes.

I tilted my head ever so slightly at the comment Sasuke made. Did that mean he was leaving?

Before I even got the chance to second guess myself I soon found myself being pulled off the ground by my waist and hoisted over the Uchiha's shoulder in one smooth movement with his shoulder digging into the center of my stomach. It did hurt somewhat but I concentrated myself on keeping from falling off from the unbalance even though Sasuke's was holding me in place. I also had to make sure Kana did not become released from my grasp on her from this awkward hold.

"I don't think so!" Kakashi argued, stepping forward with his hand grasping a kunai at his side, tensed up, but Sasuke would hear none of that.

I am not sure how that came about, but Sasuke turned himself around so that I was now facing away from Kakashi and stayed silent except for his usual "hn," before I felt a sudden intense heat rise from our area. There was a gasp of surprise coming from the jonin, but I got no time to imagine why for Sasuke turned around once more and I saw sheets of black fire swarming the area.

It derived from the ground and shot upwards in large columns of black flames, entirely engulfing all the space that could possibly be seen.

My mouth gaped open slightly as I took this in, though Sasuke had taken off with my over his shoulder not long after that.

I dealt with the pain of his shoulder against my stomach as well as holding kana up with a bloodied arm as Sasuke whipped through the forest, weaving in and out of trees to dodge slamming into them or tripping over the rigged wires that were still around, though vaguely. Through keeping breakfast down in my stomach and biting my lip to ease the pain in my arm I had no chance to talk to Sasuke until he stopped running.

When he did stop these abrupt movements he let me down none too lightly.

"What was that about?" He growled after dropping me off his shoulder, now glaring at me from my spot on the ground, his arms crossed in dissatisfaction.

I averted my gaze to stare downwards at the now grassy terrain, not saying anything. I was sure that my heart was sending too much blood to my brain to allow me to think properly since I felt the pounding in my chest.

"Yasha…" Sasuke pursued, his tone threatening now.

"…What was what about….?" I questioned lightly in return, eyes barely flickering up to meet his that had toned down back to their usual obsidian black.

Sasuke glanced at Kana quickly before he looked back at me, advocating me to speak with his clue on what he was speaking of. Of course it had to be about Kana…Sasuke did not know about her birth since he had left the night after. He did not even know I was supposed to bear a child, however, it happened, and here he was, just now finding out.

"…You remember…Do you not…?" I snapped my gaze back down on the ground in almost a shy manner as I brought up this subject.

"Tch…You've got to be kidding," The Uchiha groaned.

"Sasuke…?" I asked hesitantly, now standing up carefully as to not make the bleeding in my arm worse, but I wanted to be closer to Sasuke to ensure that this was him. There were always ways to find traces of a transformation jutsu or some very well put out con artist…But with that Amaterasu….

Sasuke noticed my kunai wound instantly and his eyes narrowed, "…You're hurt."

"It is nothing-"

"Sit," Sasuke demanded, sternly pointing at the ground.

I frowned but knew that there was no way I could deny the Uchiha and I collapsed upon the ground in subtle defeat.

Sasuke silently knelt down by my side and lifted aside the sliced up, bloodied sleeve. I winced once when his finger brushed the open gash to determine its depth. When he pulled his finger back out his eyes met mine, and he was much closer this time.

"…It's not that deep," he concluded before pulling off one of the wrappings on his wrist and tightly wrapping it around my arm to stop the bleeding. Kana was still held in my other arm, but he appeared to ignore her as he concentrated on covering the gash.

Once my entire forearm was covered with the cloth off Sasuke's own arm, he took one quick glance at me before he raised his hand.

I looked up at it curiously with blank eyes before I felt a searing pain across my cheek, my head now turned the other way along with Sasuke's hand.

My mouth gaped open.

Did Sasuke just…hit me?

[**SORRY FOR THE CRAPPY END TO THE CHAPTER! I'm going to be out all weekend and kinda wanted this out xD So-yeah! It had to be done so fast, but, hey, it's something!  
-Ju  
P.S …Reviews are always welcome here :D ] **


	7. Watchful Hawk

**Chapter 7: Watchful Hawk**

**[10 school days 'till school ends and I'm an official high schooler… 26 more days till I'm 14…11 months and 20 days until Anime Boston 2013…These have driven me to write more xD Enjoy! **

I lightly touched my left cheek, hardly an expression to be displayed upon my blank features as the sting of the slap vibrated throughout my skin. It was clear that a prominent bruise would be perceptible upon that portion of my body with due time, and a rather nasty one at that. My cheek throbbed harder as I prodded it softly as though in dire disbelief at what had just occurred, which, in fact, I was.

Strong fingers gripped my chin and pulled my head upwards with slight force, compelling me to stare upwards into the cold black eyes of the Uchiha boy whom had assaulted me with such short notice. The outermost layer of his eyes seemed dark and uncaring at the vile action completed but as I stared deep within those black orbs I could see just a small amount of pain and regret pass through that layer.

I said nothing nor displayed anything as I waited patiently for Sasuke to cease his analyzation of my features and say what it was he wanted to speak. I would not be the one to mention anything first as it was Sasuke who seemed to want to say something.

"…I put you under Konoha's protection for a reason…" Sasuke began, squinting his eyes at me as though he were gravely disappointed in me.

I would have tilted my head if not for the restraints put on it by Sasuke, "…You did no such thing…"

"Hn, you think?" Sasuke retorted sharply as he turned my head a bit to the right to inspect the mark he had injected upon me. Had this been anybody else who attempted to do such a thing I would have pushed them away, however, as always, Sasuke was my acceptation.

"I needed not their protection…I was… I was perfectly content with you…" I mumbled in admittance, glad my head was turned for I would have been bluntly ashamed to say such a thing to somebody's face.

As if in defiance of my thoughts Sasuke had tilted my head back to stare him square in the eyes, noses barely touching at this distance, "I thought you were smarter than that," he noted almost angrily.

"I have thought this through, Sasuke," I countered with my tone slightly more forceful than it usually was, "Physically I was safe with them, yes, but emotionally I could not stand to be in such a place especially after what you had done. You said before that you knew I had the ability to feel emotions…You were right. I do not believe I have ever been through such pain since you left. I am not safe without you; you should know that by now." That may have been the most I have spoken since the last time I saw the Uchiha.

Sasuke had a smirk in his eyes however his face was grave, "Since when do you care about how you feel? If you just stayed with them—"

"You suggest the impossible. I did not trust that village nor do I believe they trusted me…It seems by what Kakashi has expressed, you did not trust them either. Were you watching me, Sasuke?" I interrupted with a question, staring intently at the Uchiha.

Sasuke hesitated, filling the gap of silence with his menacing glare. It seemed as though through his eyes he was contemplating using his sharingan to silence me or hit me once more, but, he did neither of those things.

He appeared angry, but it was a contradiction when instead of denying he had been watching over me, he leaned forward and pressed his lips onto mine.

I will admit it was not a soft, comforting one I was used to getting from him, but even though it was almost as though he were trying to get as close as he could it made me feel as though I was a person again. As though my nothing existence in the world was slowly becoming something as he harshly bit onto my lip and drew a little bit of blood.

I did not fight it.

Fighting it would have meant that I cared for the blood he drew, which I did not. All I cared for was Sasuke and the strange feelings of assurance that he gave me. It was as though his harshness was a way of proving something…

I gently but quickly placed Kana on the grass beside me and used my two free hands to put on the back of Sasuke's neck, pulling him down closer to me. At the same time Sasuke had gotten on his hands and knees, forcing me to lie on my back and hold onto him that way.

Whatever came over me was nothing that I could explain.

I poked my tongue at his lips as though pleading for entrance into his mouth, but instead his own tongue shot out and protruded past my lips. His velvety tongue licked around my own, forcing it back as he worked with it. If I was not mistaken such a thing called a _"blush"_ made its way onto my pale complexion as this went on.

It did not last for long nor was I expecting it to, though that did not mean I was not disappointed when Sasuke pulled back with that same cold expression on his face. His chest was pulsing up and down as he gulped down air, and I the same.

"So what if I was…?" Sasuke asked after a few seconds, still hovering over me.

"…That would explain how you knew where to find me then…" I noted softly for it would have been stunning for his appearance to be just a coincidence, and on such great timing as well.

"Hn, I wasn't planning on making contact with you," Sasuke admitted with ease, his fingers brushing my jaw line and down my neck, allowing the blue tipped white strands of hair to fall through his rough fingers. He seemed sincere enough. The way he stroked my skin in almost a loving manner assured me that this truly was him.

"…Why…?" I asked longingly, needing an answer for the very thing I had been questioning since the day we had parted.

Sasuke sighed and he sat up, pulling my small body along with him. Whether I had the choice in it or not, my head was rested on his chest with his hand buried in my hair. His other hand was on the lower part of my back holding me so close to his body that I could feel his heart beat against my person. I was well aware that Kana was still asleep on the ground beside us, but I could not be sure if Sasuke was willing to recognize it.

"…When I met you I didn't realize how much you would distract me," Sasuke mumbled softy. Still in a monotone, yes, but there was such tone behind those words…

"But your goal has been completed…" I whimpered, breaking down my emotionless wall as much as I could with Sasuke around. He was the only one who would ever see me cry or even come on the verge of it. He would be the only one who would ever see my true smile, if I could ever manage one, and he was the only one who would ever see any side of me, "Your brother is…He is already gone…So what more is there for you?"

The Uchiha may have huffed a small laugh into my hair, "You're so confused, Yasha Satou."

"Of course I am," I agreed.

"Heh…I haven't told you about Itachi, have I?" Sasuke asked as the hand on my lower back came up and pushed my chin back up to facing his perfect features. The way his black hair dropped around his face melted me from the inside, that layer of ice around my heart slowly dripped off. The way his cold dark eyes stared into me made me feel violated in the best of ways. His lips were creased into a small frown but otherwise left a blank expression upon his pale face. Simply beautiful.

It took me a short while to find my voice, "…No…"

"…Well that is good then I suppose," Sasuke wrapped up before he let go of my chin and snaked his arm back around my waist, "…So what about that," The Uchiha nodded his head towards our sleeping child on the grass beside us.

I sighed that he did not explain about Itachi, but I pushed it not and went back to the matter at hand, Kana.

"What about her?" I questioned indulgently, not budging as he called her a "that."

"Is she yours?" Sasuke asked as though it were not already obvious by the neko ears. By the way he asked it, he appeared almost angry…

I tilted my head at the Uchiha, curious if he really had asked this question. It could have been possible that he had forgotten all about that night, but for somebody like Sasuke it seemed impossible for that to slip his mind. Maybe in all his daily business I was the last thing on his mind and therefore so was our last moments together.

"Sasuke…She…Kana is ours," I admitted, my face heating up ever so slightly and taking on an appearance of what must have been another blush as I reached my hand up and trailed my fingers along the side of his neck.

That angry look darkened in my beloved's eyes, "Are you sure?"

"Please," I replied bluntly in such a dull tone, not at all amused by the question, as though Sasuke really thought I would have gone so far with anybody else. I believe Sasuke knew me better than anybody else, surpassing even my own brother and my sensei, therefore it was honestly insulting that he would have presumed such a thing.

Sasuke was very quiet as he seemed to be thinking over the events at hand. His eyes darted back and forth between Kana, me, and somewhere far off and distant before I figured I should have said something.

"…You seem…To be in thought…" I noted cautiously. Stating the obvious, yes of course, but I needed to say something to him.

Finally Sasuke broke out of that silent shell, "…I'm not happy about it."

My hopes fell down to the ground and shattered in a heap of broken glass, "…I would presume so—"

"Did Konoha take any chakra tests?" Sasuke interrupted staring crossly at me as though this was a very important subject. His eyes seemed to grow darker as he glared, pushing me to tell the truth. It was as though my response was everything to him and if I had given him the "wrong" answer then I would be in trouble.

"Yes…Why?" I questioned curiously, a single white eyebrow raised up in confusion.

"Did they tell you anything about it?" Sasuke asked quickly, his sharingan beginning to appear and his gaze moving to evaluate Kana, still soundly asleep in the soft cushion of the grass.

"No they separated us before that could happen…Why do you seem so nervous about this, Sasuke?"

"If any of the two tails chakra got into that baby, Madara will go after her as well," Sasuke grumbled not at all looking pleased with the events. I would not have been pleased either had I known how to feel about this situation. I knew Sasuke had mentioned Madara before as one he was going to follow to attain his new "goals," but never once could I have believed him about that.

Being the one with no sense of humor, I had to instantly point out the flaws in this explanation, "Madara is dead."

Sasuke's mouth continued to hold that frown, "He is not dead, and the longer you think that the more trouble you'll get yourself into." Such sincere words... But even so I could not believe it. There was no way for somebody to survive so long, especially after there were records of him being taken down by the first Hokage of Konoha.

"I will not get into any trouble," I assured, however, as always, Sasuke had a counter for my words and actions.

"Hn, like with Kakashi?"

At that moment Kana burst out into a loud wail as though Sasuke's words had sparked something. Of course since she was a baby none of this conversation could have made any sense for her, therefore I put with the resolve that she either had a filled diaper or she was hungry again. For my sake and for Sasuke's I earnestly wished it was the latter for there was nothing out here that could be used to change or act as a diaper.

When I eased myself out of Sasuke's arms to check, it was lucky enough for me that she was merely hungry, which meant that Koharu had changed her diaper for me during that small interval where I ran from Kakashi.

I looked over at Sasuke, "…She is hungry."

"And?" Sasuke asked with an irritated tone to his voice which seemed to come back once I had left his hold.

"…Would you kindly look away?" I requested as I easily lifted Kana up off the ground and cradled her in the side of my left arm while putting my right hand on the fold of my kimono.

Sasuke raised a black eyebrow, "I've seen you before."

My pale cheeks once again tinted a light pink but regardless I ever so slightly rolled my eyes at the thoughtless boy, "Does that mean I want you to see me now?" I questioned.

"I didn't think you cared," Sasuke shrugged but he rose from the ground and turned to leave before I called out to him, my tone almost higher than it usually was as I made to plead with him.

"Stay nearby…Please, Sasuke…" I begged, my grip on Kana tightening as I realized that if Sasuke left now I would be shattered once more.

The Uchiha turned his head slightly back, just enough for me to see a single sharingan eye, "…Fine, but I can't stay long." Was it my dull imagination or did he seem sadder than usual?

"…Stay with me for the night…" I requested softly, maybe even a little meekly.

Sasuke appeared to mentally sigh and maybe even allowed a small breath to escape his lips, but however the conflict in his mind was going he gave me a small nod before hopping up into the trees to allow me privacy as I tended to Kana.

I could not be sure but that small nod may have made me smile…Maybe.

**[The perfect writing weather: RAIN! (: Anyway…Thanks for your time! … *quietly* reviews are still always welcomed…  
-Ju] **


	8. Betrayal

**Chapter 8: Betrayal**

**[Eh…no motivation…Just out of boredom.]**

When a being is young they come to think of the world as a fairytale. As some sort of world where everything is perfect and the only thing that can go wrong is an evil presence, but that is always cleared up by the protective prince or princess. It is quite entertaining to remember those thoughts one must have had as a child. It must be exhilarating to think these things at such a young age.

For me, I never could believe in such atrocities. Such a thing as a happy ending never occurred to me even though I used to smile as though nothing in the world could touch me. I was well aware of the way the world worked and I knew somebody like me, a mere Jinchuuriki, could never attain true happiness through any means. No matter how hard I struggled there would always be an obstacle that obstructed my visions of this cheerful feeling of a fairytale.

Would it be strange to say that the thoughts I had clearly lost as a child had come back to haunt me? That for some reason whenever Sasuke was present these thoughts of this emotion some called _"happiness" _was accompanying the Uchiha?

Obviously not. I was a nothing. I was merely a shell of something that was not meant to be, therefore, emotions could not come miraculously flooding back to me as though it were an injection. These things called "feelings" were not anything I could understand now nor ever. When Sasuke was around I had to constantly remind myself that these cloudy feelings of anxiety were nothing to be bothered with for they were just fakes. Happiness, sadness, excitement, these feelings of being alive was nothing that could be felt by a nobody like me.

Even as I sat there holding Kana up to my bare breast, well aware that there was a male nearby, I felt nothing. I had told Sasuke to kindly leave the facility in order to allow him no sight of such a thing but I doubted it would have mattered if he saw me or not. I could feel absolutely nothing and it was about time that I came to terms with this.

_Love. _

Feh, what a false term. There is no such thing as love…So why was I intent on tailing Sasuke as though he held my very heart in his hands? Why did I follow him so loyally even though I knew deep within those dark eyes that forced this "love," there was darkness that was forcing me away? Why did I hope so badly that there was a connection between us that I even pushed away the blockage that clearly was there?

Was this the human half of my heart that told me to believe these things?

In spite of these thoughts that raced about my head like the yin and yang I had enough sense to be listening to what was going on around me.

A slight rustle could be heard within the abyss that was the tree tops and it was not merely the humming birds or blue jays that were scurrying about in their homes. It was far too large to be a mouse or any other of the lesser animals. Though the sun had fallen past the horizon line and left me in the waking gleam of the faint moonlight poking through the thin veil of clouds, it did not forbid me from spotting the pair of eyes glinting up in the foliage.

I tilted my head and pulled the neckline of the robe back over my chest, "…I apologize for disappointing you Sasuke, but were you perhaps staring?" I spoke up to the trees, more towards the eyes.

As though I could hear the eye roll, Sasuke replied smugly, "Hn, as if," and he gracefully made his presence known by hopping from the tree branch and landing smoothly on the ground before me, his height taking its toll on me as I stared up at him from my secluded space against the rough tree trunk. Was it me or did Sasuke look even more magnificent when it was the moonlight reflecting off his back, creating merely a silhouette of his body but showing off some darkened features upon his face?

"Oh?" I questioned softly finding it rather comical that Sasuke Uchiha would be one to be a pervert.

"I have my rights on you, it shouldn't matter," Sasuke retorted in that cocky way of his, smirking as I averted my gaze from his to stare at his feet. Usually it would have been something of an insult to have somebody put "claims" on me, especially since that was something the Hidden Cloud Village had attempted to do so by sealing Nekomata within me, however, since it was Sasuke…

"Of course you do," I sighed, shaking my head ever so slightly before I felt a familiar pair of fingers gently grip my chin and easing my head up to stare into those tunneling black orbs of his. I had not even realized that Sasuke had knelt down in front of me before I felt his lips barely glaze mine.

"Which means I can do whatever I want with you…hn?" Sasuke whispered subtly, that lightly plastered smirk on his face still boring into my mind and filling all the empty spaces. By our closeness I was a bit too mesmerized to say much other than a simple "hm," but I supposed that acted as a yes for Sasuke because he leaned forward and fully pressed his mouth onto mine.

My cold blue eyes began to melt and close as I felt him on me, a feeling that no one else but Sasuke could possibly bring me. It was not merely because I allowed no one to, though that was true as well, it was just that the way Sasuke moved and felt against me seemed to fit perfectly with the way I was. It would seem that whatever Sasuke did to appeal to me was because we had similar personas.

Though this kiss did not last long it left a lagging impression on my mind, causing me slower reactions than was usual. It took me a few moments afterwards to realize that Sasuke had backed away with an all knowing arrogant look on his face.

I inched my eyes open wearily, "…You are teasing me."

"Hn," Sasuke shrugged before rolling onto his back and laying down on the ground beside where I was sitting. His hair moved to accommodate the position as it fell down beside his face showing off all the features that brought me appeal.

If it was a smile or a frown which donned my face at the moment I could not tell, all I knew was that the muscles in my face just began waking up from a nap to form some kind of glazed expression as my stare was temporarily locked on Sasuke who appeared to be ready to go to bed himself. His eyes were just barely open, maybe making an exception for the sliver of space between his eyelids which allowed him to stare into nothing.

Nothing as in the darkness. Nothing as in the very thing that was engulfing my soul before Sasuke showed up and introduced himself to me last year. He stared into the shadows of the trees and of the blocked moon as though he were waiting for something but did not quite understand what it was he was looking for.

Without hesitation I gripped Kana firmly in my right arm as I lowered myself down to the same position Sasuke was in and put my head just close enough to allow my forehead to barely feel his shoulder. The small wounds in my stomach from the quarrel in Konoha were screaming at me to stop using my stomach muscles by the time I had made my way onto the ground and into a comfortable position. I had even forgotten about those wounds up until now…Maybe that was why I had gotten so close to losing to Kakashi Hatake.

Sasuke, displeased with my position against him, wrapped an arm around my delicate body and pressed me full against his side. This rendered the rest of my body useless while my head lolled comfortably on his shoulder.

"So…Tell me again Sasuke…" I began, not even bothering to look up at the Uchiha boy, "This Madara Uchiha…"

"What about him?"

"Were you lying about such a man?"

There was a prominent sigh that protruded from Sasuke's lips as he listened to my stupidity, "Madara Uchiha is a man you should not be messing with. I'm not lying when I say he is alive, and I'm not trying to scare you when I tell you that he's after you. I'm simply telling you as it is, either you can believe me or you can get yourself killed by not believing it. "

"….I find it interesting that you chose such a relative to make up," I mumbled as I still did not believe him. Who would?

"Would you find it interesting for me to 'make up' that he may be after your Kana too?" Sasuke suggested, the hand on my side gently gripping onto the fabrics of my garments as though the last thing that he wanted was for me to be taken by his long dead ancestor.

"Your Kana," I corrected irritably wondering why, even though he was upset about it, Sasuke would not just take responsibility for our offspring and realize it was half his problem as well. It was not as though Sasuke was dim in the head where I would have thought it easier for him just to ignore Kana, but he was a very bright shinobi. That excuse could not apply here.

"Hn, she's not my problem," The Uchiha assured, frowning as though I had just tried to force upon him a bomb.

I sighed sadly but chose to excuse it, "…Are you sure this is Madara?"

"I'm positive," Sasuke nodded as though this made it alright to believe. It was true, he seemed sincere enough about what he said, but then again, Sasuke held the same expression constantly. It would not have been any big feat of his to lie without so much as blinking an eye.

I sighed once more and pressed my face closer against his body, bringing my entire person along with it just to feel the undying pleasure of being close to my Sasuke once more.

_My _Sasuke. Even if he did not truly belong to me in some sense I understood that for the moment he was mine for the moment. Even if he did not love me at all I was still granted the pleasure of allowing bedding beside him. It did not matter that the ground was growing cold nor that the air sent chilly breezes past the two of us; all that mattered was the heat that was shared between our bodies, how his arm was wrapped protectively around me, holding me solidly against him. The wounds in my stomach did nothing to bother me for all I could think about was Sasuke. His touch…His feel…Was he really here again?

It was quite hard to believe, in all honesty. That one day, he who had stolen me from myself and suddenly disappeared with my last hopes for happiness, had actually returned and was allowing me to hold onto him like a life-force. I supposed that even Kana could sense my calamities abruptly vanishing as she had eased off to sleep on the other side of Sasuke where I had placed her so I could hold onto him.

Though he did not argue at all with my choice of position he seemed to still find something to say to me, "…What are you thinking?"

I kept my eyes closed while responding, too content to move. The words simply slurred out of my mouth as I began to doze off on him, "…Sasuke…What is happiness?"

"Why?" Sasuke questioned, his hand running up and down my side soothingly.

"I want to know….what it feels like to be happy…" I admitted softly, nuzzling his neck gently without any kind of expression on my face. What happiness was…There was no way for me to understand this. I had never been happy, no matter what kind of smile I used to portray upon my features. On my heart there has always been that layer of ice that keeps me from attaining true bliss.

"Yasha…" Sasuke exclaimed with a bit of surprise in his voice though it was a more upset tone, as though he were saddened by something. Perhaps it was my question?

"Do you know…?" I asked, eyes opened in bare slits as I stared blankly down at the portion of his body I could see wondering what it was that drew me to asking such an absurd question,

"Hn…Can't say I'm an expert on it…" You could almost hear his eye roll, "Supposedly it's a good feeling, I'm not sure how to describe this kind of thing to you…"

"Do you feel this happiness when you are with me?" I inquired almost feeling as though I were going to tear up any moment now. Almost. The moment I had asked this I instantly regretted saying such a thing. I sounded like such a desperate little child, one who wanted to be loved with everything she could get…But wasn't that true? I wanted Sasuke to show me this _"love" _and this _"happiness," _did I not?

"Do I-… Yasha," Sasuke sighed as though I were such an idiot to ask a question like that, like I should already know the answer. As though I should know how someone else was feeling when I could not even comprehend most emotions myself. Even so, I supposed that this happiness so many people talked about was something that Sasuke did feel…He would not have come back if he had not, correct?

"I apologize…" I mumbled wearily, not realizing how fatigued I truly was until my eyelids dropped shut and I drifted off into a rather comfortable sleep, not at all expecting anything else that would come after that.

***Sasuke's POV…Just this once.* **

As it turns out, that same neko that had continued to vex me simply by being alive was now lying beside me, apologizing for questioning me on what I felt for her. I was honestly surprised that she had asked what happiness felt like. I mean, I knew that she had a hard time feeling real emotions, but I never thought that she would never have known what happiness felt like. It was most probable that she had felt the feeling before but could not identify it as happiness…Whatever her reasons were; right now they weren't my problem.

As upsetting as it was, I was not here of my own accord. As much as I wanted to be here and be a comfort zone for the neko, I was not here to be of any service to her.

It was not merely a coincidence that I had found her soon after her departure from Konoha, and it was not out of some strange lust or protectiveness that I sat day by day watching the disgusting village. It was heart wrenching to have to sit near the place where I had left that girl, it was horrible to have to only be able to watch her mope around the village in her pregnant state, simply staring off into the nothingness of the sky and know that most of her pain now was because of me…But Madara wanted the two tails.

He had promised me revenge on Konohagakure for what they did to Itachi, but that also meant that he needed all the tailed beasts. It was two tails, eight tails, and nine tails which he had failed to retrieve, and frankly Madara was quite cranky that the mere two tailed cat demon could constantly slip out of his fingers.

I had no choice but to comply with Madara's demands and wait until the moment when I could take Yasha.

Now she was asleep, vulnerable, huddled right up against me as though she would be safe there. Funny, to think that she actually trusted me enough to fall asleep there, though I could understand why she would. I had even convinced myself that I loved this strange girl all that time ago, but I now realized that there was no way I could allow someone like her to come between me and my revenge.

So why did it hurt so much to sit there and watch her knowing I would have to be her downfall?

It never would have occurred to me for Yasha to be a deep sleeper. I would have to ignore these strange emotions running through my body and wait until she was completely asleep before even making an attempt at moving her. True I was a very stealthy shinobi, moving her would be no problem, but I wanted to make sure that she knew nothing of this until we got there. If she woke up during the move…I might not be able to handle the pain from seeing what look may come about in her eyes.

Eventually her breathing had been a soft lull for about a half an hour before I picked her up and held her sleeping body in my arms with her head still resting on my chest. Her arms were tucked in that spot between her body and mine as she curled up against me, breathing a little deeper but besides that not waking.

I sighed I disappointment at what I was about to do, but couldn't let myself think twice about it.

Then I remembered that baby, was it Kana? She most likely held some of the chakra from Nekomata, chakra which Madara needed to complete the ten tails…As tedious as it was I had no choice but to bring her along.

She was sleeping like a rock as well so it was not a problem to lift her up with one arm while cradling Yasha in my other arm, though, Yasha was much bigger than that baby was.

I got both girls positioned in my arms with Kana on top of Yasha before I sighed, and despite myself, I leaned down and kissed Yasha carefully on the forehead. I couldn't explain if I loved her now…but I did know that I cared for her. Did I not care about her enough that I would carry her straight to her death with a ruthless man such as Madara?

I supposed so.

Either way, shoving these thoughts into the back of my mind I took off towards one of the Akatsuki bases, careful not to wake Yasha lest she know too soon about my betrayal.

She would know in the morning.


	9. With or Against me

Chapter 9: With or Against me

**[My inspiration is that I am now officially out of middle school… Boy, time flies. I remember in fifth grade when I was normal…HAH yeah right! Happy Summer everyone! Enjoy!]**

_"Sasuke if I could love, do you think I could love you?" I whispered more to myself than to Sasuke as we lay down. I had not a clue that he was still fully awake even; I just assumed his silence indicated slumber. _

_ "Do whatever," Sasuke instructed without moving an inch but his lips. Even his calmly closed eyes never fluttered as he spoke to me. _

_ I felt that that was not the time to talk, and that I should have let it be at that, but for the first time in my life it was as though I could not keep my mouth shut, "…Sasuke?" _

_ "What?" _

_ "…Am I worth your time?" _

_ A light sigh could be heard emitting from the Uchiha as though he were truly annoyed with such a question, "Hn. Go to sleep."_

_ In response I sighed one similar to that of Sasuke's however mine was more disappointed. _

_ Disappointment….Was that not one of the emotions that a natural human heart should be able to feel? Was disappointment and desperation part of what I should have been able to feel, or was that simply what I wanted to have? If I truly felt this loneliness and sorrow from time to time did that really mean I was as empty of a shell as I thought myself to be? Maybe not… _

_ Even so, this was merely a dream. Oh yes I could easily tell that this was not reality for there was no way I would honestly question Sasuke on anything as preposterous as love. Honestly, if there was no such thing as love how could I question him on it. This was one thing I constantly reminded myself, therefore scarcely ever spoke of. _

"_Wake up…"_ _I told myself repeatedly, allowing the misty backdrop of nothing to fade into a blurred mist,_ "_Wake up…."_

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When I awoke there was no doubt that I was not where I had fallen asleep. Even though my eyes had not yet opened from their paralyzed state I could tell by the drop dead silence that surrounded me that I was not in the woods anymore. My nose could pick up none of the scents that would reside within a forest; none of the sweet pine or the feeling of cold air being sucked up through my sensitive nose were there. It was cold in wherever I was, no doubt, but the smells of iron and rock were overpowering.

Behind me, when I attempted to move my hands to rub my eyes open, I realized instantly that my hands were stuck behind my back. There was a rough item binding them together which could be identified as a rope, easily. It was not the most comfortable thing that has ever been attached to my wrists as it was very tight and it felt as though it were shredding my wrists apart with the prickliness of the material.

I sighed in agitation as I opened my eyes, keeping them half lidded as I stared around the room in disappointment of what was happening. Turns out I was in a room that was absent of any sort of window, almost completely thrust into the darkness albeit I shall recognize the small lamp that was lit in the corner of the room. This room may have been twenty degrees below freezing for all I knew, but there must have been a reason for me not being able to feel my toes or fingers. That was not because the ropes on both limbs were almost cutting circulation.

It occurred to me that I, obviously, was taken under custody by somebody who had it out for me, but when I remembered where I had fallen asleep my ice coated heart felt cracked. I had fallen asleep pleasantly curled up beside Sasuke Uchiha after being separated with him for so long. I had been by his side all night long…It would have been highly improbable for somebody to steal me while I was next to such an elite…Or maybe it was Sasuke himself?

I sighed once more as I shook my head at myself, finding that to be too farfetched to be tangible. The Sasuke I knew would not betray me in such a way…could he have?

As I sat there lost in my illiterate thoughts, a shrill creak filled my ears that sounded much like a heavy metal door against stone grounds. The high pitched sound hurt, albeit I made no expression to emphasize pain.

White light flooded into the room momentarily before the door slammed shut once more and I was cut from the connection. Though now, more clear than ever, there was a person within the walls with me.

"You are quite evasive," A deep voice noted from somewhere within the shadows.

That deep voice struck me as familiar for I was positive I had heard that voice somewhere before.

I stayed silent, refusing to have to be what one would call "hospitable" towards somebody who kept me tied up like a pet. Ironic really, seeing as I was more human than cat, but that was beside the point.

"Funny really, how only the two tails could keep running away from me… Of course without Sasuke you would never have survived so long…" The voice mused. As it spoke I felt a sharp pain running through my chest…What was that? "It's too bad you're out of his protection-"

"Whoever you are I suggest silencing yourself," I interrupted sharply, cold blue eyes piercing into the darkness as I sought out to see the one who vexed me so.

There was a slight chuckle that was heard moments before my captor shown himself in the light. As stunning as it was, I showed no sign of profound interest at the orange wooden mask that made its way into sight of the slight fire lit in the corner. That orange mask I had seen time and time again before having had him take me captive twice in the past, but I still could not find a way to feel _fear _towards him.

"I'm sure your little friend has mentioned me before," the man I remembered to be Tobi said.

"…If you mean to tell me that you are Madara Uchiha…" I trailed off once I realized how ridiculous I sounded at mentioning such a name as though it were real.

"You don't believe that?" Tobi questioned slyly, a smirk probably crossing across his mouth as we spoke. For some odd reason I seemed to come across with an image of Sasuke's all-knowing smirk, and then I found myself mentally locking myself away again as I figured out how preposterous that was.

"No," I deadpanned, glaring at the masked man.

Tobi chuckled as though something were actually comical. I could locate nothing comical about the situation as I was the one tied up and being told to believe such lies that one named Madara Uchiha was standing before me when he should have been deceased. Even so, if he had not passed when he should have, then I was stuck with one rather complicated problem-No, that was wrong, Madara was dead.

"Why is it you laugh?" I asked dully.

"It appears Sasuke has not done his work with you," Tobi sighed as he crossed his arms in disappointment, shaking his masked head, "but I suppose it doesn't matter if you believe I am Madara or not. You see, the Akatsuki finally has you."

If I felt the need I would have rolled my eyes, "I would never have guessed."

"In the event you haven't heard past your smart tone," The masked one threatened, "I shall tell you this much. Our Jinchuuriki must be delivered to the statue unconscious…"

"Could you not have knocked me out while I was asleep?" I asked, sighing at the sheer stupidity of the people I had to endure.

Tobi chuckled once more, "I could have. But Sasuke had other ideas."

I tilted my head curiously…Unfortunately I must pull out the most common saying of all "curiosity killed the cat." Usually I was not one to ponder, but… "What Ideas?"

"You shall see," Tobi exclaimed before he grabbed onto the back of my shirt and hauled me up off the ground. As my hands and feet were both bound together, and I was too lazy to fight, I was dragged out of the dark room.

As it would turn out, the bright light I had witnessed flowing into the room when the door was first opened was merely but lit lamps. It just appeared much lighter than it was since my eyes were in the dark, and when I was brought out my eyes dilated quickly to adjust. It never even crossed my mind to wonder about why Tobi would be in contact with Sasuke…It hardly came up as an ideal that it was Sasuke who brought me here. I would never have believed it.

I made no attempt to struggle against the bonds that held me, nor any against this Tobi who was still dragging me about the multitude of hallways and past the many rooms of the base. It would seem this was a rather extensive place, proving to be a rather tedious task to escape.

After long minutes of silence the masked man decided it was best to start up a conversation, for whatever reason that may have been, "If it was only this easy I would have sent Sasuke to retrieve you sooner," Tobi mumbled, maybe it was more to himself than it was to me.

Either way, I heard it, and was not pleased by it, "You have changed him in ways I cannot describe…Whether you are Madara Uchiha or not, I can find no reason to justify your actions…"

"Was I _asking _for justification, cat?" The masked man barked, shaking me hostilely as he continued to drag me about like some kind of doll, "You would not have survived as long as you did without him. It was easy to say the moment you fell out of his favor you were done for."

"I am no weakling," I sighed, knowing that though this was the truth, my actions currently were not helping with the statement.

Tobi seemed to find amusement in this, "You are only holding the two tails. Don't get ahead of yourself."

I would have growled at the orange masked one had he not tossed me into another all rock room. This time however, the room was well lit and was bigger than the room prior by about ten times. The scorch marks on the ground seemed to be from fire, and the multitude of scratches and filled in holes seemed to assure me that this must have been the Akatsuki training grounds…Not that they particularly needed training.

Standing in the center of the rocky grounds was the one person I would recognize from a mile away. His scent was familiar in my sensitive nose either way, "Sasuke…?"

The Uchiha gave me a cold glare that made me do a double take. I was not used to him displaying me such coldness…Was that real?

"Have your fun Sasuke, but make it quick, I'm tired of waiting for this one," Tobi growled before he spun on his heel and exited the room, prominently slamming the door shut behind him, leaving me and the Uchiha in the training grounds.

I stared forward curiously at the stance Sasuke had taken. His hand was resting tensely on the katana strapped to his side, which was also the moment when I realized I was disarmed… of course that was to have been expected of somebody who was captured. I could see that there was also one more weapon alongside his usual one which was oddly familiar…

"Sasuke, what is this?" I asked slowly, "What is going on…Where is Kana…?"

"Hn," Sasuke huffed, frowning on mention of Kana's name, "I told you the day we parted that you had to keep your distance from me. I also told you I was alongside Madara Uchiha who is seeking out the Jinchuuriki…It's your fault for not listening to me."

"What are you talking about…?"

"You're here to get your Nekomata extracted," Sasuke informed darkly before he shuffled around on his feet and appeared in front of me, sword drawn and so close to taking my head off had I not taken quick action and moved myself to the side. I was able to duck underneath his arm and come up from behind him, in shock that he had just tried to assault me.

"What are you doing?" I nearly yelped, _almost _showing those signs of shock before I thought better of it and remained with my apathetic stare and tone.

"You must be unconscious for the extraction to take place," The raven haired man explained dully while maneuvering back around and shot large balls of fire at me.

I must have looked ridiculous trying to dodge those attacks at suck a close distance, but it mattered not so long as I did not feel the burns on my skin. What was becoming quite a nuisance to me, however, was the fact that Sasuke was actually attacking me head on to get his hands on my demon. I had not the ability to return the assaults for harming Sasuke was one thing I refused to do; though the look in his eyes told me that he did not feel mutual.

Why was that?

"Why are you doing this?" I inquired, using precise taijutsu to keep myself at Sasuke's pace and behind his back at all times now that I realized he was intent on harming me.

Then, all so quickly, I heard Sasuke's softer voice mumbling in my ear though we were still moving about each other, "It was my job to get you here, but Madara can only blame himself if you went missing from under his nose."

"I do not know what you speak of, Sasuke…" I replied indifferently though in the same hushed tone as he was utilizing. I flipped over his head to avoid a shredding from his blade and was met with his strong arm, grasping onto mine as though he were there to twist it, but I was able to slip my way out of it with another flip.

"I guess I kind of decided a little too late…" Sasuke murmured in admittance, "But Yasha, listen to me. No matter where we go Madara has eyes on the two of us being together. Now is the only time I'll be able to talk to you, but make it appear as though we are in a real fight…" as if on cue Sasuke dropped to the floor and kicked out a leg behind him to knock me back, but I hopped over the kick and landed beside the receding leg.

"Then spit it out," I sighed, holding my forearms up as a block against his hit to my face.

"Madara is soon planning to extract your demon…But when you gave birth to that kid some of the two tails chakra was trapped inside of it…He will have to take it out of her as well…Which will dispose of her as well as you," Sasuke coldly exclaimed as he made more of these false advances against me. I found it odd that we should do this even as the masked man was not present from the room, but apparently Sasuke knew something that I did not which involved being thoroughly watched.

I continued to duck and block, "and?"

"You could die here," The Uchiha pointed out harshly, still using that same unmoved tone however the look in his eyes told me that he was on my side now. Why was that so intent on changing so often?

"And whose fault would that be?" I asked in a dull whisper, squinting at the black haired shinobi while I dropped to the hard rock floor in order to avoid a chidori strike. Bits of pebble duck their way into my palms as I hit the ground to avoid the abrupt jutsu, my legs spread in a low sideways lunge. The blue and white lightning crackled just over the tips of my neko ears, dangerously close to disintegrating them off of my being. At least I knew that Sasuke was not truly planning on hitting me with that jutsu, but still the fact that he had brought it out was somewhat frightening.

"Hn," Sasuke avoided the question since we both knew the answer, and instead tossed me the second katana that was on his hip, "Escape."

"You brought me here and are now telling me to escape?" I growled irritably as I grabbed onto the sheath of the stolen weapon and placed it on my waist, "You have become sloppy with your planning, Sasuke."

"Tch, I'm not telling you to escape now. If you can transfer the rest of your demonic chakra into that baby of yours then Madara would let you go…If you survived that. We will both benefit—"

"You are asking me to, by default, murder my own child to escape?" I questioned bitterly, "I would much rather escape with—"

Before I could finish my sentence the door to the training grounds flew open, banging against the back of the wall with a chilling crash. Sasuke and I ceased conversation and fighting all so quickly as we both turned to see who was at the door. Without a doubt it was the orange masked one, arms crossed and seemingly disappointed.

"There will be no escaping for either of them, Sasuke," Tobi informed, "I thought you would have known better."

Sasuke stared at him with a blank gaze, as did I.

I guess Sasuke was caught in an act that would surely get him into trouble with the masked man for when an arm hooked around my waist I could not think of anybody else it could be, and then I was pulled away. White fabric and black hair was all that was in my line of vision as I was held tightly to Sasuke's body, moving swiftly for the door as though he were there to break me out…But…I could not understand why.

And by the unsteady beating of his heart, neither could he.

**[OK so I believe it's on the near-horrible side…But I'm sick and wanted to get something out…Please show me some mercy T.T There's stuff coming up soon I swear!] **


	10. Replacement: Sasuke's Plan

Chapter 10: Replacement: Sasuke's Plan.

[ You all know how writers block works...Add it with procrastination and laziness and VOILA: you get my life in a nutshell. Oh and um... I'm not exactly sure where this is going for the next few chapters yet. . . so if anything comes to mind while you're reading this chapter or if there was anything you reaaallyy wanted to happen, I'd love to hear it! ^-^ well, enjoy!]  
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One cannot know the light without first been stranded in the darkness. One cannot understand being brought to happiness without having been drowned in sorrow. What happens if you have never known the light? What is the result if one has been in this shadow from the moment they were born? Will they know the light? Or shall it be mistaken as something that is only temporary and will only result in more pain?

That was one of the many questions that were being forced through the organ that resided in my cranium as I suddenly found myself back in the arms of Sasuke Uchiha. At first it had appeared that he had brought me here, but then he was now attempting to break me out...What I thought was the light may never have been the light at all, but merely a glimpse of what a life of happiness could be. What it could be, but not what it was going to be for me.

No. No matter how many times I thought I could be loved, that proved to be impossible for somebody of my nature. Whatever Sasuke was planning on doing now I knew he would eventually turn back on sometime in the future since it had happened so many times in the past...So then why did I find it so difficult to hold back a sudden surge of emotion running through my heart?

The image of Tobi gradually faded into the background as I was carried farther away from the training grounds briskly by the Uchiha. His arms held me in place as though I were something he were not going to let go of...As though I were something he found precious.

Heh, how comical. He had, in simpler terms, brought me to my demise and yet here I was thinking that I was precious to him?

"Yasha..." His soft voice mumbled as soon as I found I was brought to an unfamiliar room, though it was not uncomfortable. It was a lot lighter than most of the hallways I had seen for there were candles lit throughout the whole room, illuminating most of it. There was a cozy looking bed nestled in the corner of the mostly square room with a small desk and a bathroom off the side. It was fairly simple.

"...What are you up to, Sasuke?" I asked finally, allowing myself to hint some...Sadness in these words. Or what I thought to be sadness, anyways.

"I brought you here," Sasuke admitted confidently, seemingly holding no shame about it. His strong black eyes stared at me full on to prove he was not messing around with my head, "Because there was no way around you being taken in."

I stared back at him with a blank expression, all but a small frown creasing my lips in a disappointed fashion, "Are you on my side or are you not?"

"I am," The Uchiha assured, though it was not to my comfort as I found myself having a hard time believing this statement, "but...It's difficult. You already know Madara wants your demon..."

"As you have continuously reminded me," I added in icily, allowing no sense of kindness to leak into my tone.

"Right... But I already told you my plan for this... and-"

"Sasuke you are definitely not in your right mind if you are forcing yourself to believe that I would allow you to transfer my chakra into Kana and have her be taken instead. Besides that, extracting my chakra into anything would kill me, regardless," I explained coldly, glaring at the Uchiha as though I could be angry. As though I felt anger towards him, as though it was possible to feel this emotion towards somebody like that.

"Not if you only extract a portion of it..." Sasuke began to rationalize, "The extraction only kills if all of the chakra is sucked out... You can transfer half of the chakra into that kid...Give Madara half of it-"

I put my hand over Sasuke's mouth to quiet him while my dull eyes buried holes into his, "You are crazy."

Sasuke didn't respond and so my eyes narrowed more than their normal plain width.

"It would kill me unless i willingly gave the chakra up and kept at least ten percent of it. However, I am aware that this one you call 'Madara' will not be too pleased with the idea of receiving only a portion of my chakra. Most of the demons chakra is not able to be used unless it is all in tact with each other...All of it must be there," I explained softly in my dull monotone, not expecting Sasuke to know that beforehand but was bothered that I had to speak longer than a sentence.

Sasuke's dark eyes seemed to produce more blackness than before and though this fazed me not I decided that I should remove my hand from his mouth in order to allow him to respond.

"Madara says it's not that way for the nine tails," Sasuke said finally.

I closed my eyes and tilted my head towards the ground as though I were chuckling, "and have you ever stopped to think for yourself? Is everything you go by what Madara says or what that man tells you to do? The nine tails is the most powerful of all the bijuu... It would not be the same as my mere two tails," I countered, taking my time as I fully realized I was contradicting the Uchiha.

The raven haired boy glared at me with a loss for words as it was very rare that I ever contradicted him, "hn."

I looked back up at him, piercing blue eyes staring straight into his, "Now if you don't mind my asking. Where have you put Kana?"

Sasuke's mouth creased into a frown that appeared darker than usual, "Kana is being taken care of by Karin. Fortunately enough for you I was able to convince Madara to keep the child out of harm for now."

I gaze darkened as I dropped onto the bed in the room so I could stare up at Sasuke. My pale cold hands were folded neatly on top of my lap while I sat with my legs folded underneath me. My fuzzy blue neko ears tilted towards the ground as I stared at the Uchiha blankly.

"It has come to my attention that you do care for the child..." I noted softly, piercing blue eyes gazing dully at mere nothing though it was taking in everything.

Sasuke turned his nose up at me as though the mere thought of wanting to take in a child was simply preposterous, and could not be done. It seemed to me like he wasn't daring to fully admit to the fact that he did care for the' child's safety, however he had gone through the trouble of making sure that Kana was kept well accommodated to.

"Hn, think what you will," The Uchiha grouched.

'As I shall, Sasuke...' I thought to myself, though the mere beginning of my thoughts towards somebody else seemed to summon up the two tailed demon. It seemed to be a regular occurrence these days that the demon come out to have conversation with me.

"I don't understand why you don't just bust out of here..." The Nekomata yawned as it's almost audible purring began. I could feel my stomach churn as the cold chakra slithered about.  
"Of course you wouldn't understand...You are merely a cat demon, after all," I replied in my thoughts, mentally inserting a gentle sigh.

"And what's that supposed to mean, hm, Yasha-chan? Last I recall it you are merely a cat yourself," The demon cooed. I could nearly sense its fangs bared towards my heart, it's chakra pulsing through my small body of 5 feet as it thrived for the need to tear my heart out for such an insult. Maybe, perhaps, however, it would just be my imagination.

"That is true," I agreed sullenly when all of a sudden I felt two powerful hands grip my shoulders and jostle me swiftly and harshly, forcing me up from the depths of my conversation with the two tailed demon.

I found myself staring into two red orbs with spinning black pupils instead of blackness.

"Stop speaking to that thing," Sasuke demanded, a biting edge to his usual calm voice.

"I have no choice in the matter, Sasuke..." I mumbled softly, tilting my head slightly to the side to avoid direct contact with the Uchiha.

I thought I felt his grip tighten upon my shoulders however it seemed that he was just releasing them so he could turn away in a silent fit of rage. I could merely curiously tilt my head towards him but do nothing more as he collapsed on top of his bed like a seat and motioned to the spot beside him.

I sighed softly to myself yet I did not refuse the offer and allowed myself rest beside the Uchiha.

As I moved his piercing gaze never faltered until my rear hit the bed beside him.

"Yasha..." Sasuke began the moment I leaned against him in comfort, "...Please allow me to transfer most of the chakra into that kid... Not all of it...I'll give you enough to keep you alive..."

"Why do you persist? By now you must know I must abstain from such an offer, Sasuke..." I reminded in my normal hushed tone, glazed over in a monotone that would refuse to change from my voice.

"...I can't lose you...But I can't lose this opportunity either..." Sasuke mumbled into my hair as he leaned his head on top of mine.

I frowned, "And what exactly would this opportunity be?"

"That, I cannot tell you," The raven haired boy responded.

"Then I have no reason to allow you to transfer my chakra into my child," I countered calmly, finding my argument to be fair to the situation.

Sasuke appeared to become livid again, "Yasha, do you want to die?!" He hissed, turning towards me with his rage nearly pouring through his words.

I stared back at him with sincerity, "...Yes."


	11. Possession of Rage

Chapter 9: Possession of Rage

[Yo everyone. The school year has inspired me to write quicker this time. I guess the piles and piles of English homework haven't been such a default for me :3 Hope you all are having a great school year! Please do enjoy :3]

I sat calmly upon Sasuke's bed. My hands were folded neatly in my lap while my legs were tucked under my body so I could sit on them. My emotionless blue eyes followed Sasuke's pacing back and forth across the room in agitation at what I had just announced.

"Do you want to die?"

"Yes."

He hadn't seemed to fully understand my thoughts and my actions as of this point as if he thought that life was a good reason to put effort into anything, let alone the act of living itself. The fact that I had agreed with him that I had wanted to die appeared to come across the Uchiha as some sort of an astonishment. One that unnerved him to no end.

Occasionally his troubled eyes would flicker over to where I was sitting in the midst of his neurotic striding but then quickly dart back to the cold stone floor beneath him. It was clear to me that he was thinking of a way to devise a new plan, but for what I could not divulge.

Finally after he had calmed himself, Sasuke found the courage in himself to turn to speak with me.

"...Your answer has changed from when we first met," Sasuke sighed as he remembered that I, once, used to not care about whether I lived or died. That I was alright with living or dying. But now I had absolutely no reason to find the need to inquiry about finding a friend nor hesitate upon this as I awaited a bright future that would never come. I was not meant to have a happy ending, as Sasuke had so bluntly proven to me simply by his actions of assisting somebody in murdering me after promising that he would protect me. Now death seemed prominent. I was now willing to take away this futile thing titled life. It would be of no waste to anybody in the first place. I was simply mass taking up space in the world.

I was unnecessary.

"Yes, it has," I responded, not at all looking to justify myself or look for a way around it. If Sasuke wanted an explanation on why, he would simply have to look in a mirror to find that sufficient answer.

In defeat, the sixteen year old dropped onto the bedside on my left. His pitch black eyes were filled with such anguish that I almost felt sympathy for him. Then I wondered what it was I was supposed to be sympathizing about. This was a result of his own misfaults. I needn't be the one feeling sorry for him.

"Do you truly feel that way?" He asked, an elbow leaned against his knee. His forehead was being covered by his hand while he closed his eyes. It seemed to be like he was attaining a headache of some sort.

"Should I feel anyway else?" I inquired gently. I stayed in my solitude on Sasuke's bed, not at all looking to lean over and embrace him or anything even close to the idea.

"You're so willing to throw away your lif-"

"Let me ask you Sasuke, what 'life' is this that you speak of? Is owning such a meaningless existence with no true being called a 'friend' what you call a life? Is living alone without any hope for the future supposed to count? You humor me, Sasuke, with your idle words. I hardly imagine you understand what a life is either," I retorted, feeling this unusual burst of anger in my gut. Who was Sasuke to tell me that I was throwing away my life? Was he not the one out to seek revenge against the world with no plausible reason for it? He was the one who sought no serenity with the world.

That Uchiha had no place in telling me that I was throwing away my life.

Sasuke's response was put on hold momentarily before he could find his tongue to speak again, "I don't care about having a settled life, but atleast I have goals. I don't need 'friends' to be happy. I don't need happiness. But that doesn't mean I intend on dying anytime soon. I'm not a cat who needs any of those."

As soon as he called me a cat I instantly found my blue neko ears drooping lower and there was a burning sensation on my face. I knew the spread array of light freckles across my face were searing with chakra heat as they relocated about my face to form whiskers. There was no mistaking this sensation...I was...Angry.

Never once had Sasuke called me a cat. It never crossed my mind to hear him say such muttony... I never figured he would be the one to categorize me as as merely a cat.

"And I needn't any of those worthless things either before you decided to weed your way into my life," I growled back.

"Oh really? So it's my fault then?" Sasuke questioned coldly, sitting up to stare at me with dark intensity.

"It is all your fault," I admitted harshly, "You made me believe that I could trust you. Turns out I was wrong."

"That's your own fault for believing that. In the world of a shinobi we can't all keep that balance of having ourselves happy and keeping other pets happy as well," Sasuke exclaimed, his words coated in a thick layer of biting ice. His eyes acted as daggers to accompany his words.

"I do not need to be kept happy, but I would prefer that you refrained from telling me things that you had not meant in the first place!" I nearly yelled, hot anger boiling from the pit of my stomach where Nekomata lay, up to the top of my neko ears. I had never experienced rage before... I found I did not like the feeling, but rather would have not spoken at all. It were as though another force was pushing me to speak these harsh things to Sasuke, however, I knew it was all my doing.

"Maybe I did mean them, but you obviously haven't learned that things change as time goes on," Sasuke countered grouchily.

My fist clenched, allowing my nails to dig through the scarless pale skin that stretched over my hand, "How much has changed then? You would kill me?"

"Does it matter? Isn't that what you wanted?"

"No!"

And that was it.

Sasuke stared at me with his usual apathetic face, but those stone cold eyes of his had softened. He did not dare to make another insulting comment, but he needn't have. I had already done something I had vowed never to do again.

I had gotten angry.

Not only that. No, I had shown the rage.

I yelled.

If one had asked me at the time why I had chosen to simply snap at that moment there would have been no way for me to have answered. I would not have known the proper way to respond. Instead I would have bore my dull blue eyes into yours and waited until you had backed away.

Now I could look back and with ease say, "It was Sasuke Uchiha who slowly revived my broken soul. Now it was Sasuke Uchiha who was breaking it again, and there was no way to compensate for that."

"Yasha..." Sasuke said slowly. As he spoke he lightly slid an arm around my waist...For some reason, I allowed that, "...You yelled... Are you really that angry?"

I 'tsked' and held my head up with the pride I hardly possessed. I tilted it to the right as if to ignore the Uchiha, however I found it within myself to respond.

"You...are a nuisance...That I wish to never see again," I stated, returning to the monotone. With my bit of pride still standing I rose from the bedside and glided to the other end of the cold room.

Not only was Sasuke Uchiha a liar and a pest, but he had provided me with something nobody else had ever since I had supposedly lost my sensei all those years ago. Sasuke gave me that strange thing called love, and I absolutely despised it. It was not just merely the thought that he had taught me how to feel emotions and feel them most for him, but it was the fact that in the end he had decided to play around with them until he fully terminated it by telling me that it would not matter if he killed me or not. I hated emotions... More importantly, through this day, I had found that I hated Sasuke.

When I thought he was a different person than all the rest. When I spent nine months mourning over the fact that I believed he was gone forever. When I actually loved him... He tossed it aside with such distasteful words. He had proved to me that I should never again learn to trust anyone, and if I did, then that trust would eventually be broken again.

Yet I had not so much as left the room yet before Sasuke decided to open that abhorrent mouth of his, "Yasha if you intend on leaving, I hope you understand that Madara does know we're in here... You're not safe by leaving."

"I am sorry I was under the impression that you. Did. Not. Care," I snapped back dully, emphasizing each of the last four words.

"I never said I didn't care-"

"You said it did not matter, therefore, you do not care," I responded icily, throwing the door open in the midst of my fury. Behind the roar of anger in my ears I could hear the slight chuckle of the nekomata in the back of my head.

"But I do-"

For the most repeated time today I had cut off the Uchiha.

"I am going to find Kana. When I find her, I will be taking her out of here, and I will be taking her away from you. I will be leaving and then afterwards I never want to see your face again, Sasuke Uchiha," I hissed angrily before I slammed the door shut with such a force that I had never needed to use before.

Just like that, I walked away from Sasuke.

My only exception had just been taken away. And this time, I was the one who caused it.**  
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